Three bombs rocked the Afghan capital of Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 11 people and wounding 45 others, said officials, as Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, met Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and NATO officials in the city.
Ghani and U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo agreed in a phone call to step up efforts to reach a negotiated end to the nearly 18-year-old war in Afghanistan, said the U.S. State Department in a statement.
Pompeo told Ghani in Wednesday's call that Dunford and U.S. envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad had been dispatched to Kabul to "discuss in detail the next steps," and a "conditions-based" withdraw of foreign forces.
Afghan security forces inspect a damaged building at the site of a blast in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 25, 2019. /VCG Photo
A suicide bomber blew himself near a minibus carrying employees of the ministry of mines and petroleum, killing five women and a child.
Video footage shared by security officials showed the bodies of the women and a child lying on the road in the eastern part of the city as bystanders tried to help the wounded.
Health officials said at least 20 people were taken to hospital by civilians, with some in wheelbarrows.
A second bomb exploded on a road parallel to the site of the bus attack, killing five people and injuring some policemen trying to manage traffic after the first blast.
ISIL claimed responsibility for the two attacks.
At least 11 people are killed and 20 others wounded by two blasts that rock the Afghan capital Kabul, Afghanistan, July 25, 2019. /VCG Photo
A third blast, about three kilometers away, wounded at least 17 civilians. The Taliban claimed responsibility.
The Taliban, fighting to restore strict Islamic law after their 2001 ouster at the hands of U.S.-led troops, said their fighters had used a vehicle-borne improvised explosive device to target nine foreign forces and destroy two vehicles.
On Wednesday, a Croatian soldier serving in Afghanistan was killed and two others were seriously wounded in a suicide attack on their convoy outside Kabul.
Afghan interior ministry officials said the Taliban have killed or wounded over 1,000 civilians since April, including more than 150 children.
The attacks came as Dunford and Khalilzad met with Ghani.
Washington is seeking to negotiate a deal that would see foreign forces pull out of Afghanistan in return for security guarantees by the Taliban, including a pledge that the country will not serve as a safe haven for terror groups.
Afghan firefighters wash the road after a blast which ISIL claimed responsibility, in Kabul, Afghanistan, July 25, 2019. /VCG Photo
About 20,000 foreign troops, most of them American, are stationed in Afghanistan as part of the U.S.-led NATO mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces. Some U.S. forces also carry out counter-terrorism operations.
Yet despite offering assurances during peace negotiations, Tailban continue to target innocent civilians, said Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for the U.S. forces in Afghanistan.
Afghan security experts said the insurgents were increasing attacks to gain greater leverage in the peace talks. The eighth round of the talks is expected to begin this month in Qatar.
The Taliban also clashed with Afghan forces in northern province of Takhar to secure control over checkpoints and capture several districts. Both sides claimed to have inflicted heavy damage on their opponent.
Elsewhere on Thursday, a roadside bomb hit a wedding party in the eastern province of Nangarhar. Six women and three children were killed in the blast in Khogyani district, the provincial governor's office said in a statement.
No group has claimed responsibility for that attack.