Afghanistan: At least 14 personnel of Afghan security forces killed in multiple terror attacks

As many as 14 personnel of Afghan security forces were killed in multiple terror attacks that took place in different parts of Afghanistan. The attacks were claimed by Taliban. 

According to a provincial councilman Shah Mahmmod Nahimi, 10 soldiers were driving back to base after picking up their salaries in the country's western Farah province. “They were travelling in a Humvee when the explosion took place on Sunday afternoon in the Bala Buluk district,” he said.

"The blast was so intense that no one in the Humvee survived," Shah Mahmmod Nahimi further added.

In the meantime, the Taliban targeted several checkpoints in northern Sari Pul province on Sunday night, killing four members of the security forces. In the brazen attack, 22 Afghan soldiers were injured. Notably, the attacks took place on the outskirts of the provincial capital of Sari Pul and triggered gunbattles that lasted for hours. During the intense gunbattle, 15 Taliban terrorists were also killed. 

On the other hand, a sticky bomb attached to a minibus carrying government workers in Kabul detonated on Monday morning. Around 10 people were injured. However, one of the wounded was in critical condition.

 In a statment, Arab Haidari, from the religious affairs ministry, said that all the wounded are ministry's employees who were on their way to work when the explosion took place. Importantly, attacks have increased recently as Washington's peace envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, presses ahead with talks with the Taliban, who refuse to negotiate directly with the Kabul government.

The talks so far have focused on a timetable for US troop withdrawal as well as Taliban guarantees that they won't harbor terrorist groups or allow Afghanistan to be used as a staging ground for global terror attacks. 

On May 12, at least eight children were killed and two others sustained injuries in a roadside bomb explosion in the south-eastern Ghazni province of Afghanistan. The horrific incident took place when the children were playing in the area stepped on an Improvised Explosive Device (IED). The blast occurred at around 8 am in the Muqer district of the province.

With inputs from PTI