LASHKAR GAH: A suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded 20 others outside a bank in the capital city of Afghanistan’s Helmand province on Saturday, the governor’s office said on Saturday.

The bomber detonated an explosives-packed car next to an Afghan army vehicle as soldiers arrived at a bank in Lashkar Gah to collect their pay, the Helmand governor´s spokesman, Omar Zwak, said. Among the dead were four civilians and three soldiers. Sixteen civilians and four soldiers were wounded, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban have seized large areas of Helmand and have often threatened Lashkar Gah.

Hundreds of international troops are stationed in Helmand as part of the Nato-led effort to train and support Afghan security forces, which have struggled to contain a growing insurgency. At least one American special forces soldier was wounded in fighting there this week.

To the north of Lashkar Gah, a local official said that an American military air strike killed a number of civilians in a recent bombing in Sangin district. The allegation has not been independently verified.

US military spokesman Captain Bill Salvin said that the US jets had conducted strikes in Sangin in the past few weeks. While US forces had "no evidence that civilians were killed in these strikes", Salvin said the command would investigate the claims.

"We take every precaution to prevent and mitigate civilian casualties and we take every allegation seriously," he said.

Suicide bomber kills seven, injures 20 in Afghanistan was posted in Top Story of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on February 12, 2017 and was last updated on February 12, 2017. This news story is related to Print/185777-Suicide-bomber-kills-seven-injures-20-in-Afghanistan/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Suicide bomber kills seven, injures 20 in Afghanistan" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/185777-Suicide-bomber-kills-seven-injures-20-in-Afghanistan. </s> LASHKARGAH - A Taliban suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded 20 others outside a bank in the capital city of Afghanistan's Helmand province on Saturday, the governor's office said.

The bomber detonated an explosives-packed car next to an Afghan army vehicle as soldiers arrived at a bank in Lashkargah to collect their pay, the Helmand governor's spokesman, Omar Zwak, said. Among the dead were four civilians and three soldiers, he said.

The Taliban bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into Afghan soldiers who had queued outside the bank. Nearly two dozen others, including women and children, were wounded in the explosion, many of them critically.

The Taliban, who control vast swathes of the opium-ravaged province and have repeatedly threatened to seize Lashkargah, claimed responsibility for the bombing, calling it revenge for recent US air strikes in the volatile district of Sangin.

"A suicide car bomber killed several people, including five soldiers, and 21 others were wounded," Helmand police chief Agha Noor Kentoz told AFP.

Omar Zhwak, the provincial governor's spokesman, confirmed the casualties from the bombing, which upturned military vehicles and left the area strewn with charred debris.

The Italian-run Emergency hospital in Lashkargah said it had received at least 12 people, including a woman and a child.

The Taliban ruled out civilian casualties in a statement on their website, claiming that 21 Afghan army soldiers had been killed. The insurgents are known to exaggerate battlefield claims.

The attack comes after the US military this week stepped up air strikes in Sangin as fierce fighting with the Taliban raised fears that the key district could fall to the insurgents.

NATO on Friday said it was looking into local media reports of nearly a dozen civilian casualties from the strikes. "While supporting and defending Afghan troops, the US conducted air strikes in Sangin district," the coalition said in a statement.

"We're aware of the allegations of civilian casualties, and take every allegation very seriously. We'll work with our Afghan partners to review all related material."

For years Helmand was the centrepiece of the Western military intervention in Afghanistan only for it to slip deeper into a quagmire of instability.

The Taliban effectively control or contest 10 of the 14 districts in Helmand, the deadliest province for British and US troops over the past decade and blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency.

Lashkargah - one of the last government-held enclaves - also risks falling to the Taliban's repeated ferocious assaults.

The intensified fighting in the province last year forced thousands of people to flee to Lashkargah from neighbouring districts.

The Pentagon said last month it will deploy some 300 US Marines this spring to Helmand.

NATO officially ended its combat mission in December 2014, but the Marines will return to train and advise Afghan soldiers and police officers fighting the Taliban, said US Central Command.

The decision was welcomed by the Afghan government ahead of what is expected to be another fierce spring fighting season.

At least one American special forces soldier was wounded in fighting in Helmand this week. </s> The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.

The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians, the source said. (Photo: Representational/AFP)

Kandahar: A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province on Sunday, an official said.

It was the latest in a series of deadly blows to Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces and yet again underlined spiralling insecurity in the war-torn nation. "A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded. A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added. "The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists. The deadly assault came days after a Taliban suicide bomber killed five civilians and wounded dozens of others, mainly children, when he detonated a car filled with explosives at a police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, Helmand's capital.

That attack was the insurgents' first major one since US President Donald Trump announced he was committing American troops to Afghanistan indefinitely. The resurgent Taliban are at the peak of their summer fighting season and have been ramping up their campaign against government forces.

Afghan police and troops beset by a high death toll, desertions and non-existent "ghost soldiers" on the payroll have been struggling to beat back the insurgents since US-led NATO troops ended their combat mission in December 2014.

Casualties among Afghan security forces soared by 35 percent in 2016, with 6,800 soldiers and police killed, according to US watchdog SIGAR. More than 2,500 Afghan police and troops were killed from January 1 to May 8. Ordinary Afghans have also paid a heavy price for the 16 -year US-led war. Civilian deaths are at their worst since records began in 2009.

In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, according to the United Nations. Analysts have warned that Trump's commitment to sending thousands more American troops to Afghanistan reversing earlier pledges to pull out could fuel the insurgency and lead to more casualties.

The Taliban had called for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and, following Trump's announcement, vowed to make the country a "graveyard" for US forces. </s> Kandahar: A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province on Sunday, an official said.

It was the latest in a series of deadly blows to Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces and yet again underlined spiralling insecurity in the war-torn nation.

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.

The deadly assault came days after a Taliban suicide bomber killed five civilians and wounded dozens of others, mainly children, when he detonated a car filled with explosives at a police headquarters in Lashkar Gah, Helmand's capital.

That attack was the insurgents' first major one since US President Donald Trump announced he was committing American troops to Afghanistan indefinitely.

The resurgent Taliban are at the peak of their summer fighting season and have been ramping up their campaign against government forces. Afghan police and troops — beset by a high death toll, desertions and non-existent "ghost soldiers" on the payroll — have been struggling to beat back the insurgents since US-led NATO troops ended their combat mission in December 2014.

Casualties among Afghan security forces soared by 35 percent in 2016, with 6,800 soldiers and police killed, according to US watchdog SIGAR.

More than 2,500 Afghan police and troops were killed from 1 January to 8 May.

Ordinary Afghans have also paid a heavy price for the 16 -year US-led war.

Civilian deaths are at their worst since records began in 2009. In the first half of the year, 1,662 civilians were killed and more than 3,500 injured, according to the United Nations.

Analysts have warned that Trump's commitment to sending thousands more American troops to Afghanistan — reversing earlier pledges to pull out — could fuel the insurgency and lead to more casualties.

The Taliban had called for a complete withdrawal of foreign forces and, following Trump's announcement, vowed to make the country a "graveyard" for US forces. </s> LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan (Reuters) - A suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded 20 others outside a bank in the capital city of Afghanistan’s Helmand province on Saturday, the governor’s office said on Saturday.

The bomber detonated an explosives-packed car next to an Afghan army vehicle as soldiers arrived at a bank in Lashkar Gah to collect their pay, the Helmand governor’s spokesman, Omar Zwak, said.

Among the dead were four civilians and three soldiers. Sixteen civilians and four soldiers were wounded, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban have seized large areas of Helmand and have often threatened Lashkar Gah.

Hundreds of international troops are stationed in Helmand as part of the NATO-led effort to train and support Afghan security forces, which have struggled to contain a growing insurgency.

At least one American special forces soldier was wounded in fighting there this week.

To the north of Lashkar Gah, a local official said that an American military air strike killed a number of civilians in a recent bombing in Sangin district.

The allegation has not been independently verified.

U.S. military spokesman Captain Bill Salvin said that U.S. jets had conducted strikes in Sangin in the past few weeks.

While U.S. forces had “no evidence that civilians were killed in these strikes”, Salvin said the command would investigate the claims.

“We take every precaution to prevent and mitigate civilian casualties and we take every allegation seriously.” </s> A car bomb targeting a U.S. convoy exploded early Friday in an eastern neighbourhood, leaving four Afghan civilians dead and three wounded and lightly wounding four American forces, authorities said.

It was the second suicide attack in as many days to rattle the Afghan capital.

The suicide bomber struck as the convoy passed through Kabul's eastern Yakatot neighborhood, where US and NATO forces maintain complexes. Facilities operated by the located nearby.

Firdous Faramaz, police chief spokesman, said four Afghan civilians were killed and three wounded in the attack.

Bob Purtiman, with the U.S. military in Kabul, said four U.S. service members received The one-line statement did not elaborate.

In a telephone interview, took responsibility for Friday's attack on the US convoy in Kabul, claiming 10 U.S. soldiers were killed. claims are often exaggerated.

Witnesses said the explosion was powerful, blowing out windows in neighboring buildings. Traffic on the streets was light because the bombing occurred on a Friday, the weekly day off.

On Thursday, six people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an academy and training center, also in the same area but several kilometers (miles) away from Friday's explosion.

The on Thursday said a soldier had noticed a suspicious person, and as he approached him the attacker detonated his explosives near the academy. The soldier's action likely saved lives.

Both the and an Islamic State affiliate have infiltrated the capital in the past.

In a series of coordinated attacks by Taliban fighters late Thursday in district in southern province, 11 soldiers and five police were killed, said Mohammad Karim Karimi, Karimi said he had repeatedly requested the government in to send additional security forces to the district, which has a strong Taliban presence.

Attacks by the Taliban have continued unabated despite peace talks with the as well as a fresh round of talks with Afghan notables this week in the Russian capital Following the talks, Suhail Shaheen, for the Taliban's political office in Doha, said "spectacular progress" was made on some issues, without elaborating. </s> Three explosions struck the Afghan capital on Sunday, including a sticky bomb attached to a bus carrying university students that killed at least one person, Afghan officials said. The bus explosion wounded ten people, including an Afghan reporter, said Nasrat Rahimi, spokesman for the interior ministry. Two roadside bombs were detonated about 20 minutes later, wounding seven more people, including five security forces in the same residential area of western Kabul.

Several houses and shops around the blast sites were damaged, and security forces blocked all roads leading to the site.

Wahidullah Mayar, spokesman for the public health ministry, said at least four women were wounded in the bus bombing an had been taken to hospitals. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but both Taliban and Islamic State militants are active in the capital and have staged attacks in Kabul.

In a separate attack late Saturday in eastern Ghazni province, a Taliban suicide bomber detonated a stolen Humvee packed with explosives inside a police reserve unit compound, killing at least seven police personnel, said Nasr Ahmad Faqeri, head of Ghazni’s provincial council. He added that eight other police were wounded in the attack on the outskirts of the provincial capital, Ghazni city.The suicide bomber was able to enter the compound using a stolen Humvee,

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid took responsibility for the attack in Ghazni. In recent days, Kabul has witnessed a wave of attacks. A Taliban suicide car bomber targeted a U.S. convoy on Friday in an eastern neighborhood, killing four Afghan civilians wounding three others, as well as lightly wounding four American forces. On Thursday, six people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Afghan army academy and training center.

Attacks by the Taliban have continued unabated despite peace talks with the United States as well as a fresh round of talks with Afghan notables last week in the Russian capital, Moscow. The Taliban have rejected repeated demands for a cease fire, saying the fighting will continue until U.S. and NATO troops withdraw from Afghanistan. </s> KANDAHAR: A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said.

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor told.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists. </s> KANDAHAR - A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said.

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists.
Taliban suicide car bomber kills four Afghan civilians and wounds over 20 including four American soldiers.