KABUL: Four government employees were killed in an armed attack in central Kabul on Tuesday.
According to Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz, gunmen opened fire on a vehicle carrying staff from the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development, killing four of them. A separate attack saw a civilian wounded when a bomb targetted another government vehicle, police said.
Tuesday’s attacks came a day after three bomb blasts rattled the capital, killing at least one person. Afghan and US officials have blamed the Taliban for the wave of violence, although the group has rejected the charges.
The city has seen near-daily attacks during the busy morning commute, targeting prominent Afghans including politicians, journalists, activists, judges, and religious scholars.
The surge comes as peace talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government that began in September are deadlocked. Government negotiators are pushing for a permanent ceasefire, but the insurgents have so far dismissed calls for a truce.
Earlier, 10 Afghan soldiers were killed and four others injured during a Taliban attack on a military base in the southern province of Helmand.
According to a spokesman for 215 Maiwand Army Corps in southern Afghanistan, Nawab Zadran, and The Taliban dug a burrow into the base in explosive Sangin district and then blew it up prior to their troop could attack the compound.
He said at the moment 18 personnel were in the base camp to secure the locals of the Sangin area, while four soldiers were injured and four fought with Taliban attack valiantly, he added.
