A bombing and a shooting attack in Kabul killed at least two people on Wednesday, including the head of an independent Afghan elections watchdog, officials said.
The attacks are the latest in relentless violence in Afghanistan even as the Taliban and Afghan government negotiators hold talks in Qatar, trying to hammer out a peace deal that could put an end to decades of war.
Unknown gunmen shot and killed Mohammad Yousuf Rasheed, executive director of the non-governmental Free and Fair Election Forum of Afghanistan, said Ferdaws Faramarz, spokesman for Kabul’s police chief.
The attack took place during Rasheed’s morning commute to FEFA’s office in Kabul and his driver was also wounded and taken to the hospital, Mr. Faramarz said.
In a separate attack in the capital on Wednesday, a police vehicle was targeted by a sticky bomb in eastern part of the city. The blast killed one police officer and wounded two others, according to Mr. Faramarz. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for an attack in Kabul on Tuesday in which a roadside bombing tore through a vehicle, killing five people, three of them doctors on their way to work at the city’s main penitentiary. Among those killed was Nazefa Ibrahimi, the acting health director of the prison. Another doctor was in serious condition. IS said it had targeted the prison administration employees in the attack.
Their car, a white sedan, did not appear to have any markings on it that indicated its passengers were medical workers. The vehicle was almost completely destroyed in the blast.
IS has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in Kabul in recent months, including on educational institutions that killed 50 people, most of them students.
Violence in Afghanistan has spiked even amid the Taliban and Afghan government peace negotiations, which began in September.
The talks, after some recent procedural progress, have been suspended until early January and there is speculation the resumption could be further delayed.
At the same time, the Taliban have waged bitter battles against IS fighters, particularly in eastern Afghanistan, while continuing their insurgency against government forces and keeping their promise not to attack the U.S. and NATO troops.
IS has also claimed responsibility for last week’s rocket attacks at the major U.S. base in Afghanistan. There were no casualties in that assault, according to NATO and provincial officials.
Published - December 23, 2020 03:28 pm IST
