A car bomb attack on a police base, followed by an ongoing shooting, has left at least two dead and 23 injured in eastern Afghanistan, bordering Pakistan, the ministry said on Tuesday (October 27th). inside.
Read also: Afghanistan: towards a return of the Taliban to power
“
This morning at 5:50 am (3:20 am in France), terrorists blew up a car loaded with explosives near a complex of the special forces of the police in the city of Khost,
” said Tariq Arian, a porter. word of this ministry.
“
Some attackers wanted to enter the complex but they were arrested,
” continued Tariq Arian, who reported two police officers killed and 23 wounded, ie 14 police officers and 9 civilians.
Four enemy fighters were killed and two are still fighting, he continued.
Sporadic gunfire was still audible in Khost, according to an AFP correspondent.
According to Gul Mohammad, a health service executive, women and children are among the injured.
No claim for the moment
No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
Khost is the stronghold of the Haqqani network, the Taliban wing credited with the bloodiest and most complex attacks, including a truck bomb attack on the green zone of Kabul in May 2017 that left more than 150 dead.
Read also: Afghanistan: US strikes against the Taliban as fighting rages in the South
Afghanistan is witnessing a rise in violence, as the Taliban and the government in Kabul began talks in Doha in September aimed at ending decades of war, so far without much progress.
In mid-October, the US envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, declared that the United States had reached an agreement with the Taliban to achieve "
a significant drop
" in the number of deaths due to the persistent violence despite the peace process.
"
Attacks have increased in recent weeks, threatening the peace process
," the diplomat tweeted, calling on "
all parties
" to keep their commitments.
Kabul has been asking the Taliban for a ceasefire for years, which they refuse to consider, fearing that they will lose one of their most important levers in negotiations.
