PULI ALAM, Afghanistan: At least 17 people were killed in a car bomb explosion in Afghanistan on Thursday as crowds shopped ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha, officials and a medic said.
“Seventeen bodies and 21 wounded people were brought to our hospital,” Sediqullah, a senior doctor at a hospital in the city of Puli Alam in Logar province, told AFP.
The interior ministry confirmed the blast, which came on the eve of a three-day cease-fire between the Taliban and Kabul.
“It was a suicide car bomb in a crowded place where our people were shopping for Eid Al-Adha,” Dedar Lawang, spokesman for Logar’s governor, told AFP.
The explosion occurred near the governor’s office, said Jamshed Ahmad, a student at the site of the blast.
The interior ministry condemned the explosion.
“The terrorists have once again struck on the night of Eid Al-Adha and killed a number of our countrymen,” interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the blast had “nothing to do” with the insurgents.
The extremist Daesh group, which has claimed a string of high-profile attacks on civilians in recent years, did not immediately comment on Thursday’s blast.
The Taliban and Afghan government have agreed on a three-day cease-fire starting Friday, the first day of Eid.
The truce is slated to last for the duration of the festival, which marks the end of Hajj.
The cease-fire has raised hopes of a permanent truce ahead of much-awaited peace talks between the two foes.
The talks were initially scheduled for March, but have been delayed amid a contentious prisoner exchange.
The prisoner swap was agreed in a deal between the Taliban and Washington signed in February but which excluded Kabul.
The deal stipulated that Kabul release 5,000 Taliban prisoners in return for 1,000 Afghan security personnel held captive by the insurgents.
On Thursday, the Taliban announced they had released another 82 government inmates, the last remaining batch of prisoners they had pledged to free.
“The process has been completed successfully ... and a total of 1,005 prisoners have been released,” Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said on Twitter.
Afghan authorities have so far freed more than 4,400 Taliban prisoners, with further releases expected in the coming days.
On Tuesday, President Ashraf Ghani said peace talks with the Taliban could begin as early as next week, once the exchange is complete.
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Car bomb kills at least 17 in Afghanistan ahead of cease-fire
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Car bomb kills at least 17 in Afghanistan ahead of cease-fire
- Suicide bomber struck as crowds shopped ahead of the Muslim festival of Eid Al-Adha
- Blast came on eve of a three-day cease-fire between Taliban and Kabul
Pakistanis fleeing Iran describe strikes shaking ground under their feet
QUETTA: Pakistanis fleeing Iran described explosions and missile strikes across Tehran shaking the ground under their feet and engulfing buildings in fire and smoke in a city emptied of many of its residents. The conflict has widened sharply, with a US submarine sinking an Iranian warship off Sri Lanka on Wednesday and NATO air defenses destroying an Iranian missile fired toward Turkiye.
Governments have been scrambling to evacuate stranded citizens, with most of the region’s airspace closed due to the risk of missiles hitting passenger planes.
“I was in the classroom when a powerful explosion rocked our university building,” Hareem Zahra, 23, a student at the Tehran University of Engineering, told Reuters after crossing Pakistan’s land border with Iran.
“We saw thick smoke coming from many buildings on fire,” she said, adding Tehran was under attack until the moment she left.
TEHRAN LOOKED DESERTED
Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country, Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran, said.
“There are now serious challenges. As you know there is no Internet in most parts of Iran,” he said. Iran has retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and Washington’s allies in the Gulf, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, following US and Israeli air strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Tehran has looked deserted since the conflict began, said Nadir Abbas, 25, a student of Persian literature at a university in the Iranian capital.
“I saw a drone hit a basketball court where six girl players lost their lives.”
Reuters could not verify his account.
’DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE’ Islamabad is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it attempts to maintain warming ties with Washington while expressing solidarity with Iran.
Pakistan is home to the second-largest Shiite population in the world after Iran and being drawn into the conflict could lead to instability at home as well as complications evacuating its citizens.
“The first attack happened right next to my hospital,” said Sakhi Aun Mohammad, a student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After he reached the border, an Iranian friend called to check if he was safe, saying: “’Thank God, you have gone to Pakistan, all of you are safe, but your hostel has been attacked’.” A Pakistani diplomat who is still in Tehran said attacks took place every four or five hours, adding one missile struck a building next to his office. “At times you will feel as if something exploded right at your feet,” he said. “The last time I got out was at night. Buildings had collapsed, some others were on fire. There is destruction everywhere.”
He added: “It is almost like a ghost town.”
Governments have been scrambling to evacuate stranded citizens, with most of the region’s airspace closed due to the risk of missiles hitting passenger planes.
“I was in the classroom when a powerful explosion rocked our university building,” Hareem Zahra, 23, a student at the Tehran University of Engineering, told Reuters after crossing Pakistan’s land border with Iran.
“We saw thick smoke coming from many buildings on fire,” she said, adding Tehran was under attack until the moment she left.
TEHRAN LOOKED DESERTED
Nearly 1,000 students, businessmen and pilgrims have fled Iran since the war started out of a total 35,000 Pakistanis in the country, Mudassir Tipu, Pakistan’s ambassador to Tehran, said.
“There are now serious challenges. As you know there is no Internet in most parts of Iran,” he said. Iran has retaliated with a barrage of ballistic missiles targeting Israel and Washington’s allies in the Gulf, including Qatar, Kuwait, the UAE, and Saudi Arabia, following US and Israeli air strikes that killed Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on Saturday.
Tehran has looked deserted since the conflict began, said Nadir Abbas, 25, a student of Persian literature at a university in the Iranian capital.
“I saw a drone hit a basketball court where six girl players lost their lives.”
Reuters could not verify his account.
’DESTRUCTION EVERYWHERE’ Islamabad is walking a diplomatic tightrope as it attempts to maintain warming ties with Washington while expressing solidarity with Iran.
Pakistan is home to the second-largest Shiite population in the world after Iran and being drawn into the conflict could lead to instability at home as well as complications evacuating its citizens.
“The first attack happened right next to my hospital,” said Sakhi Aun Mohammad, a student at Tehran University of Medical Sciences. After he reached the border, an Iranian friend called to check if he was safe, saying: “’Thank God, you have gone to Pakistan, all of you are safe, but your hostel has been attacked’.” A Pakistani diplomat who is still in Tehran said attacks took place every four or five hours, adding one missile struck a building next to his office. “At times you will feel as if something exploded right at your feet,” he said. “The last time I got out was at night. Buildings had collapsed, some others were on fire. There is destruction everywhere.”
He added: “It is almost like a ghost town.”
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