*KABUL: **Death toll rises drastically in massive Bomb blast in Kabulclaimed by Taliban.*
*The death toll from a massive blast claimed by the Taliban in Kabul hasrisen to 16 people — all civilians — with scores more wounded, an officialsaid Tuesday.*
“Sixteen killed, 119 wounded in last night’s attack. The explosion wascaused by a tractor filled with explosives,” interior ministry spokesmanNasrat Rahimi said.
The blast comes as the US military is set to pull troops from five Afghanbases under a proposed deal with the Taliban.
The US envoy leading talks, Zalmay Khalilzad, who has spent about a yearnegotiating with the Taliban, said the draw-down would occur within aboutfour months of a final deal being approved — provided the Taliban stick totheir commitments.
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“We have agreed that if the conditions proceed according to the agreement,we will leave within 135 days five bases in which we are present now,”Khalilzad told *Tolo News*, according to an excerpt of an interview theAfghan TV station published on Twitter.
The Afghan-born envoy was speaking in Dari, and Tolo said the fullinterview would be broadcast later Monday.
