At least 21 people were killed and dozens wounded in two suicide attacks in different areas of Afghanistan on Saturday.
A Taliban suicide attack near the defence ministry in Kabul killed nine people and wounded 13 others, police said, hours after another deadly blast in Afghanistan’s restive east which killed 13 people.
“Nine people were killed, 13 were wounded. Most of them were civilians, “Kabul police chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said at the scene of the blast, which detonated as offices closed for the day. The attack was claimed by the Taliban.
Taliban insurgents regularly hit government, military and police targets as part of their campaign to overthrow the Western-backed administration of President Ashraf Ghani.
Earlier on Saturday a suicide bomber on a motorbike struck at a market in Asadabad, the capital of restive Kunar province, killing 13 people and wounding at least 39.
The suicide bomber was riding a motorcycle and detonated his explosives near the provincial Governor House and police station.
Provincial Governor Wahidullah Kalimzai said the bomber rode up on a motorcycle to the entrance of a government compound in the town of Asadabad and blew himself up. At least another 40 people were also wounded.
“Most victims were civilians and children who were either passing by or playing in the park,” he said.
Rescue and security personnel reached the blast site. Security personnel cordoned off the area as a probe into the incident went under way.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the apparent target of the attack, a tribal elder and militia commander named Haji Khan Jan, was among the dead.
He had been closely involved in a number of operations against the Taliban in his district last year.
