JALALABAD – At least 16 people were killed in a suicide attack earlyWednesday on a construction company in eastern Afghanistan, an officialsaid, the latest bloody assault in the war-torn country.
The hours-long assault in Jalalabad began early Wednesday when at least twoblasts were heard, an AFP reporter said, before security forces rushed tothe scene in the city, which is the capital of Nangarhar province.
“Sixteen employees of the company have been killed and nine more injured,”provincial spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP. A second official saidthere had been casualties but could not immediately verify the toll.
“All five attackers have been killed by security forces,” Khogyani added.
He said a clearance operation was ongoing with security defusing twosuicide vests, one car bomb, and multiple mines planted by the attackers.
“Armed suicide bombers attacked and managed to enter the building of aprivate construction company early this morning,” said Nangarhar Provincialcouncil member Zabihullah Zmarai.
“A number of civilian workers of the company have been killed,” he added.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Both the Islamic Stategroup and the Taliban are active in Nangarhar province.
The bombings come as US and Taliban negotiations continue to hold ongoingpeace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict.
Despite a two-day break before the weekend, negotiations continue on “adaily basis right now and progress is being made”, US State Departmentspokesman Robert Palladino told journalists Tuesday.
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“These discussions are ongoing and what we’re focusing on are the fourinterconnected issues that are going to compose any future agreement,”Palladino said — listing them as terrorism, troop withdrawal, intra-Afghandialogue and ceasefire.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during an exchange with high schoolstudents in Iowa he hoped sufficient gains would be made for him to be ableto take a trip to help advance the negotiations “in a couple weeks”.
The continuation of the talks follows a major attack on a joint US-Afghanbase in southwestern Afghanistan’s Helmand province last week, with atleast 23 security forces killed in the hours-long assault on one of thelargest military installations in the country.
Heavy snowfall across large swathes of Afghanistan has led to a sharpreduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country’ssouth will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of thespring fighting season.
Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in thecoming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield andleverage at the negotiating table.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced his eagerness to end America’sinvolvement in Afghanistan, where 14,000 US troops are still deployed.
Afghanistan has been enmeshed in nearly constant conflict since the Sovietinvasion of 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban regime, andthe US invasion in late 2001. – APP/AFP
