At least 12 people were killed and more than 100 were wounded in a suicide car bombing on Sunday in Afghanistan’s western Ghor province, ToloNews reported. The attack took place near a police headquarters and other nearby government buildings in Firozkoh area.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.
The incident took place at 11 am after a Toyota Corolla-brand vehicle “loaded with explosives” was detonated close to the police headquarters and government offices for “women, martyrs and disabled affairs”, said a statement by Afghanistan’s interior ministry.
The head of a hospital in Ghor, Mohammad Omer Lalzad, said emergency staff were treating dozens of people with both serious and light injuries from the bombing, AP reported. He said the toll was expected to rise.
Unidentified health officials told ToloNews that the bodies of “seven people and more than 70 wounded” were brought to the hospitals.
Arif Aber, spokesperson for the provincial governor in Ghor, said the blast was so powerful that it could be heard across Feroz Koh, the capital city of the province. Visuals from the site of the bombing showed structures reduced to rubble and other buildings in the area partially damaged.
The attack came amid talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government. Officials from both sides will hold their first-ever face-to-face talks in Qatar, where the Taliban have had a political office for many years. The negotiations are meant to end the country’s decades-long war.
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