Afghanistan: Suicide bomber targets security forces convoy near Kabul, killing 4

At least four people were killed and another six injured after a suicide bomber targeted a convoy of security forces in Kabul early Tuesday, December 11, officials said, in the latest bloody Taliban-claimed attack in the Afghan capital.

The blast took place in Paghman district in western Kabul as the convoy was returning from an overnight operation, interior ministry spokesperson Najib Danish told AFP.

“It is still not clear whether the attacker was on foot or driving a vehicle,” the spokesman added.

Another security official requesting anonymity said the assailant had used a car bomb to target the convoy.

The attack targeted members of the National Directorate for Security, Reuters reported an unnamed official as saying.

The Taliban has claimed the attack.

Attacks on Afghan forces by the Taliban and Islamic State Khorasan Province have been inflicting record-high casualties on security personnel this year.

Afghan security forces, beset by killings and desertions, have been struggling to beat back insurgents since U.S.-led NATO mostly left them on their own three years ago.

In November President Ashraf Ghani said nearly 30,000 Afghan soldiers and police officers have been killed since 2015 – a figure far higher than anything previously acknowledged.

Earlier this month, Lieutenant General Kenneth McKenzie – who has been nominated to lead the U.S. military’s Central Command – said the death rate among Afghan forces will no longer be sustainable unless urgent measures are taken to address recruiting and training issues.

The early morning attack in Kabul came just hours after an overnight assault on a checkpoint in Arghistan district of southern Kandahar province by Taliban fighters killed at least eight Afghan police officers, according to the provincial media office.

“The fighting lasted several hours, eleven Taliban were also killed,” the office added.

The uptick in violence comes as Washington continues to press for a negotiated end to the 17-year conflict.

U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad – who is currently canvassing the region to rustle up support for potential peace talks – expressed hopes that a deal to end the war could be struck before the Afghan presidential election scheduled for April. A Taliban delegation met with U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad for talks in Doha in October and November.

With reporting from AFP