Articles by "Jalalabad"
Jalalabad (Afghanistan), Oct 2: At least 13 people were killed in a suicide attack on an Afghan election campaign rally on Tuesday, officials said, in the latest violence ahead of this month's legislative vote.
The attack is the first suicide assault since campaigning officially kicked off last Friday for the parliamentary elections, preparations for which have already been marred by bloody violence.
More than 40 people were wounded when the militant blew himself up among supporters of candidate Abdul Nasir Mohmmand in the Kama district of the eastern province of Nangarhar, provincial governor spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said.
Mohmmand was alive, Khogyani confirmed, but he did not say if the candidate had been hurt in the blast.
Provincial health director Najibullah Kamawal put the death toll slightly higher at 14.
Some of the wounded were in a critical condition, he said.
An AFP reporter saw numerous ambulances delivering bodies and wounded people to a hospital in the provincial capital of Jalalabad.
Sayed Humayun, who had brought his injured cousin to the medical facility, said scores of people had been inside a hall listening to Mohmmand speak when the bomber struck.
"I heard a big explosion," Humayun told AFP.
"For a while I could not see, I thought I was blinded, but later I saw I was surrounded by bodies and people covered in blood." The force of the blast caused the ceiling to collapse on top of the gathering.
"There are still people trapped under the rubble," Malik Zeerak, who was at the rally, told AFP.
No group immediately claimed the attack, but the Islamic State group has taken responsibility for most of the suicide bombings in recent months.
Violence has plagued the run-up to Afghanistan's long-delayed parliamentary vote, which is scheduled for October 20.
Five candidates have been murdered in targeted killings, according to the Independent Election Commission, and there are fears violence will escalate.
There were also numerous attacks on voter registration centres, including a suicide blast at a centre in Kabul that killed dozens.
The latest attack comes amid predictions for Afghan battle deaths to top 20,000 this year -- including civilians and combatants.
That would be the highest number since the start of the conflict in 2001 and make Afghanistan deadlier than Syria.
More than 2,500 candidates will contest the vote, which is seen as a test run for next year's presidential election.
But preparations have been in turmoil for months.
Bureaucratic inefficiency, allegations of industrial-scale fraud and an eleventh-hour pledge for biometric verification of voters threaten to derail the election and any hope of a credible result.
The international community is pushing hard for the vote to happen before November's ministerial meeting in Geneva, which the United Nations says is a "crucial moment" for the Afghan government and its foreign partners to demonstrate progress.
Some 54,000 members of Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces will be responsible for protecting more than 5,000 polling centres on election day.
More than 2,000 polling centres that were supposed to open will be closed for security reasons.
It is a daunting task as the Taliban and IS, which have vowed to disrupt the ballot, ramp up attacks across the country. (AFP)
Jalalabad, Jul 31: Gunmen stormed a government building after multiple explosions in a continuing attack in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad today, an official said.
At least two blasts were heard before the attackers entered the compound of the refugees and repatriation department, said provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani.
Several international organisations are also in the vicinity.
Before the attack began representatives of foreign donors and organisations were meeting department employees inside the building, Khogyani said.
Khogyani said a "large number" of employees had been rescued but it was not clear how many people were still inside.
"I saw a black Corolla car drop three armed men at the gate of the refugees and repatriation department," a witness told AFP.
"One of the men blew himself up at the gate and two others entered the building." An AFP reporter could hear gunfire as security forces swarmed into the area. (AFP)
Jalalabad, Jul 31: Gunmen stormed a government building after multiple explosions in an ongoing attack in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad today, an official said.
At least two explosions were heard before the attackers entered the refugees and repatriation department compound, provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said. Several international organisations are also in the vicinity. (AFP)
Jalalabad, Jul 11: Militants raided a government building in eastern Afghanistan today, officials said, setting off explosions in an ongoing attack.
At least five people have been wounded in the attack in Jalalabad, Nangarhar provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP, in the second assault in the city in as many days.
Security forces were battling to clear the militants from the compound, Khogyani said, but it was not clear how many gunmen were inside.
"I can confirm an armed attack on a branch of the education department," Khogyani said.
"Two big explosions have been reported from the site so far." Jalalabad health director Najibullah Kamawal confirmed five wounded had been brought to hospital so far.
A suicide attack in the same city yesterday killed at least 12 people and ignited a nearby petrol station, with witnesses describing screaming victims "swallowed" by flames.
The bomber was targeting Afghan security forces when he blew himself up. Ten civilians were among the dead.
The Islamic State group claimed that attack via its Amaq propaganda agency -- the latest carried out by the extremists in restive Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.
IS has claimed a series of high-casualty suicide bomb attacks in the province in recent weeks, as US and Afghan forces continue offensive operations against the group.
While the Taliban is Afghanistan's largest militant group, IS has a relatively small but potent presence, mainly in the north and east of the country.
Today's attack comes a day after President Ashraf Ghani flew to Brussels to attend a NATO summit where he will be hoping to get a greater commitment from members to the nearly 17-year conflict.
It also coincides with the start of a university entrance exam for more than 16,000 students in the city, but it was not clear if the two events were linked.
The attack comes exactly a month after militants raided the education department in Jalalabad.
In that incident a suicide bomber blew himself up at the entrance to the department, triggering a fierce battle between gunmen and security forces.
At least 10 people were wounded after terrified employees jumped out of the windows.
A recent ceasefire between Afghan security forces and the Taliban during the Islamic holiday Eid had raised hopes that an end to hostilities in the war-weary country was possible.
Since then, however, the Taliban has returned to the battlefield and IS, which was not involved in the truce, has continued to carry out deadly attacks.
Jalalabad, Jul 10: A suicide attacker blew himself up near an Afghan security forces vehicle today, killing at least 10 people, mostly civilians, officials said, in the latest deadly violence to rock the country.
The explosion in the eastern city of Jalalabad also left at least four people wounded and set a nearby petrol station alight, provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told.
Eight civilians were among the dead, Khogyani added.
Some of the victims were brought to hospital with severe burns, health director Najibullah Kamawal said, confirming the casualty toll.
"I saw a big ball of fire that threw people away. The people were burning," Esmatullah, who witnessed the incident, told AFP.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the latest attack in restive Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.
The Islamic State group has claimed a series of high-casualty suicide attacks in the province in recent weeks, as US and Afghan forces continue offensive operations against the group.
While the Taliban is Afghanistan's largest militant group, IS has a relatively small but potent presence mainly in the east and north of the country.
Today's attack comes a day after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo expressed "hope" for peace talks between the Afghan government and Taliban, during an unannounced visit to Kabul.
Pompeo's first trip to Afghanistan since he was sworn in as America's top diplomat in April came amid renewed optimism for peace in the war-weary country following last month's unprecedented ceasefire by the Taliban and Kabul during Eid.
"An element of the progress is the capacity that we now have to believe that there is now hope," Pompeo told a joint press conference with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
"Many of the Taliban now see that they can't win on the ground militarily. That's very deeply connected to President Trump's strategy," he said, referring to Trump's much-vaunted South Asia policy announced last August.
The ceasefire did not extend to the IS franchise in Afghanistan, which first emerged in the country in 2014 and established a stronghold in Nangarhar before spreading north.
The most recent attack in Jalalabad on July 1 saw 19 people killed and 21 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus.
The group had been waiting to meet Ghani when the bomber struck.
That came after two separate suicide attacks in Nangarhar during the ceasefire that were also claimed by IS. (AFP)
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