Amid ‘Peace’ Efforts
More Afghan Civilians Killed in Bomb Attacks
KABUL (Dispatches) – At least seven civilians were killed and 19 others injured after roadside bombs struck passenger buses in two separate attacks in Afghanistan on Saturday, as violence intensified at home while negotiations are underway in Doha to find a political solution to the war-battered country’s crisis.
A bomb planted on a road in Gereshk district of the restive southern Helmand province hit a Kabul-bound passenger bus early Saturday morning, leaving five civilians dead and injuring nine others, said a statement of the defense ministry.
The defense ministry blamed Taliban militants for the attack.
It was the second bomb attack on passenger buses within hours in the country.
In the first attack which occurred in the wee hours of Saturday in western Herat province, two commuters were killed and 10 others injured.
All the victims are civilians, according to provincial police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada.
Walizada also blamed the Taliban militants for the bombing, saying the militants planted the mine to terrorize people.
Afghans have witnessed a rise in violence in recent days.
The intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha started on Sept. 12, as direct talks between the Afghan government negotiating team and Taliban delegation have raised hope among Afghans to see the end of war in their country. However, the talks have made no tangible progress so far.
Meanwhile, 1,227 youth were commissioned to the Afghanistan National Army on Saturday after completing a three-month military training.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Payenda Mohammad Nazim, director of education with the defense ministry, said the newly graduated soldiers would be deployed to serve the nation.
Afghanistan has been facing a protracted war over the past more than four decades, for nearly two of which the U.S. is responsible.
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 allegedly to uproot the Taliban regime, but the military campaign has claimed countless lives including military personnel, militants and civilians.
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said in January last year that more than 45,000 Afghan security personnel had been killed since 2014.
A bomb planted on a road in Gereshk district of the restive southern Helmand province hit a Kabul-bound passenger bus early Saturday morning, leaving five civilians dead and injuring nine others, said a statement of the defense ministry.
The defense ministry blamed Taliban militants for the attack.
It was the second bomb attack on passenger buses within hours in the country.
In the first attack which occurred in the wee hours of Saturday in western Herat province, two commuters were killed and 10 others injured.
All the victims are civilians, according to provincial police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada.
Walizada also blamed the Taliban militants for the bombing, saying the militants planted the mine to terrorize people.
Afghans have witnessed a rise in violence in recent days.
The intra-Afghan dialogue in Doha started on Sept. 12, as direct talks between the Afghan government negotiating team and Taliban delegation have raised hope among Afghans to see the end of war in their country. However, the talks have made no tangible progress so far.
Meanwhile, 1,227 youth were commissioned to the Afghanistan National Army on Saturday after completing a three-month military training.
Speaking at the graduation ceremony, Payenda Mohammad Nazim, director of education with the defense ministry, said the newly graduated soldiers would be deployed to serve the nation.
Afghanistan has been facing a protracted war over the past more than four decades, for nearly two of which the U.S. is responsible.
The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 allegedly to uproot the Taliban regime, but the military campaign has claimed countless lives including military personnel, militants and civilians.
Afghan President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani said in January last year that more than 45,000 Afghan security personnel had been killed since 2014.