Story highlights Taliban claim responsibility for attack

Civilians and police among victims of suicide car bombing

Kabul, Afghanistan (CNN) At least 30 people were killed Thursday in a car bomb attack outside a bank in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, officials said.

In a statement to journalists, Taliban spokesman Qari Yousuf Ahmadi said the group was behind the attack.

A suicide bomber driving an explosive-packed car targeted the New Kabul Bank branch in Lashkar Gah, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for Helmand province.

"Both civilians and police are among the victims who had gone to the bank to collect their salaries," said Mohammad Karim Atal, the head of the local provincial council.

About 60 others were injured during the blast and were hospitalized, Zwak said.</s>KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A local police chief in Afghanistan says a suicide car bombing targeted Afghan soldiers lining up outside a bank in southern Helmand province, killing at least 15 people.

Provincial police chief Gen. Agha Noor Kentoz says the attacker struck on Thursday in Lashkargah, the provincial capital. He says at least a dozen people were wounded in the explosion outside a Kabul Bank branch.

People likely had gathered there to collect salaries ahead of the upcoming holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Haji Moladad Tobagar, health director in Lashkargah told The Associated Press that the hospital received 25 bodies after the attack, as well as 60 wounded.

He says he fears an even higher casualty toll as more victims were being brought in. The discrepancies in the casualty tolls could not immediately be reconciled.</s>KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A local police chief in Afghanistan says a suicide car bombing targeted Afghan soldiers lining up outside a bank in southern Helmand province, killing at least 15 people.

Provincial police chief Gen. Agha Noor Kentoz says the attacker struck on Thursday in Lashkargah, the provincial capital. He says at least a dozen people were wounded in the explosion outside a Kabul Bank branch.

People likely had gathered there to collect salaries ahead of the upcoming holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Haji Moladad Tobagar, health director in Lashkargah told The Associated Press that the hospital received 25 bodies after the attack, as well as 60 wounded.

He says he fears an even higher casualty toll as more victims were being brought in. The discrepancies in the casualty tolls could not immediately be reconciled.</s>As many as 24 people were killed and 60 others wounded when the militants launched a suicide attack on New Kabul Bank branch in Lashkargah, capital of Helmand province on Thursday.

As many as 24 people were killed and 60 others wounded when the militants launched a suicide attack on New Kabul Bank branch in Lashkargah, capital of Helmand province on Thursday. The intense fighting is still going on between the security forces and militants.

The blast took place at about 12 noon local time after a car bomb exploded, killing 24 people and wounding over 50 others, Tolo News quoted a spokesman for the provincial governor Omar Zwak as saying.

?Civilians and military are among the wounded. There is no report about exact number of dead,? Zwak said.

The victims have been taken to the emergency hospital, he added.

Earlier it was said that gunmen stormed the New Kabul Bank but Zwak says that ?the security guards of the bank started shooting after the incident.?

There are no reports on casualties yet. No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Helmand province campaign was a series of military operations conducted by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) forces against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan.

US soldiers from the Marine Corps have returned to Taliban stronghold of Afghanistan's Helmand province in April 2017 nearly three years after the U.S.-led NATO forces ended combat mission in the country.</s>KABUL—A car bomb killed 34 people in the southern Afghanistan city of Lashkar Gah on Thursday, according to an Afghan official, the latest in a string of attacks in Helmand province where Taliban militants are closing in on the provincial capital.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombing, which targeted a branch of the New Kabul Bank, said Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor. The group has carried out attacks...</s>A suicide bomber driving an explosive-packed car targeted the New Kabul Bank branch in Lashkar Gah, said Omar Zwak, a spokesman for Helmand province.

"Both civilians and police are among the victims who had gone to the bank to collect their salaries," said Mohammad Karim Atal, the head of the local provincial council.

About 38 others were injured during the blast and were hospitalized, Atal said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Helmand province has been the site of intense conflict between the Taliban and Afghan and NATO security forces. Thousands of civilians and soldiers have died in recent years.</s>Lashkargah, Afghanistan — Twenty people were killed on Thursday when a powerful car bomb struck a bank in Afghanistan’s Lashkargah city as government employees were queueing to withdraw salaries, the latest bloody attack during the holy month of Ramadan.

At least 50 wounded people were rushed to hospital after the bombing at New Kabul Bank which upturned vehicles, left the area littered with charred debris and sent a plume of smoke rising in the sky.

No group has claimed responsibility for the brazen attack, but it comes as the Taliban ramps up its nationwide spring offensive despite government calls for a ceasefire during Ramadan.

"The blast killed 20 people and left 50 others wounded, both civilians and military officials," government spokesman Omar Zwak said, warning that the toll could rise. The bomb tore through a queue of civilians and government employees who had lined up outside the bank to collect their salaries. The bank is believed to have been especially crowded ahead of the Eid holidays marking the end of Ramadan.

For years, Helmand province, of which Lashkargah is the capital, was the centrepiece of the Western military intervention in Afghanistan, but it has recently slipped deeper into a quagmire of instability.

The insurgents control vast swathes of the province, blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, and have repeatedly threatened to seize Lashkargah. The Taliban effectively controls or contests 10 of the 14 districts in Helmand, the deadliest province for British and US troops over the past decade.

Intensified fighting last year forced thousands of people to flee to Lashkargah from neighbouring districts. Since they launched their spring offensive in late April, the Taliban has been mounting lethal assaults on the Afghan army and police outposts in Helmand.

Washington is expected to announce an increase in the US military deployment soon to bolster Afghan forces as they struggle to contain the insurgency. American military commanders in Afghanistan have requested thousands of extra boots on the ground.

US troops in Afghanistan now number about 8,400, and there are another 5,000 from Nato allies, a far cry from the US presence of more than 100,000 six years ago. They mainly serve as trainers and advisers.

This month, Pentagon chief Jim Mattis acknowledged that America still is "not winning" in Afghanistan nearly 16 years after the US-led invasion toppled the Taliban regime. Mattis said he will present a new US military strategy for Afghanistan, along with adjusted troop numbers, in the coming weeks to President Donald Trump.

The Afghan conflict is the longest in American history, with US-led forces at war since the Taliban regime was ousted in 2001.</s>A car bomb exploded near the Kabul Bank branch in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand on Thursday.

Victims are taken to hospital following bank blast in #Lashkargah #AFG pic.twitter.com/rfN757VJc1 — 1TVNewsAF (@1TVNewsAF) June 22, 2017

The blast occured at noon in the province's capital of Lashkargah wounding at least 50 people. ​1TV News reports, citing local authirities, that at least 20 people were killed.</s>A car bomb exploded outside a bank in Lashkar Gah, the capital of the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand on Thursday, killing at least 20 people and injuring more than 50, Reuters reported. Among those dead were civilians and security forces waiting to collect their salaries.

Helmand police spokesman Salam Afghan said that the bomber had donated his explosives at the gate of the new Kabul Bank branch, reported BBC. Armed attackers have entered the bank and a gun battle is on with security forces, reported Tolo News.

Al Jazeera quoted Omar Zwak, spokesperson for the Helmand governor as saying that the blast took place around 12 noon local time (1.30 pm Indian Standard Time). No group has taken responsibility for the attack so far, though Islamic State and the Taliban have carried out attacks near banks in the past, where security forces, police and government officials collect their pay.

On Sunday, Taliban suicide bombers targeted police headquarters in Gardez city, killing several people and injuring many others. In May, at least three people were killed and many wounded in an attack on a bank in the same city.</s>AT-Kabul: Over 20 people were “martyred” and 55 more were injured today after a suicide bomber detonated his car against the provincial branch of the New Kabul Bank in Lashkargah, capital city of Helmand province.

Omar Zwak, spokesman for the governor told Afghanistan Times over 20 people have been “martyred” and 55 others “mostly civilians” were injured in the bombing that took place at 12:00pm.

The bomber tried to get inside the bank compound but was prevented by the security guards and car was detonated in first entrance. Most of the casualties were those who were waiting in cars and parking lot to enter to the bank.

The New Kabul Bank office in Helmand’s capital has so far several times came under attack over the past few years, but the security officials yet to take proper measures to prevent such deadly attacks, a provincial council member told Afghanistan Times.
A car bomb outside a New Kabul Bank branch in Lashkargah, Helmand Province, kills at least 20 people. The Taliban claims responsibility.