At least four bystanders were killed and four U.S. troops injured on Friday when a suicide car bomb targeted a passing U.S. convoy in the Afghan capital, U.S. and Afghan officials said.
It was the second suicide attack in Kabul in the past two days, following a blast Thursday at a military academy that killed six.
Police spokesman Ferdous Faramarz said three other bystanders were also wounded in Friday’s attack. Col. David Butler, a spokesman for the U.S. military, said the U.S. injuries were very minor.
After the attack, photos circulating on social media showed tall plumes of smoke rising over eastern Kabul, which is also home to a number of U.S., NATO and Afghan security complexes.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for Friday’s attack, which came after days of peace talks with its leaders in Moscow. Many Afghans hoped those talks would result in cease-fire announcement for the end of the holy month of Ramadan early next week.
Last year, a cease-fire that coincided with the end of Ramadan was met with jubilation in Afghanistan.
But at the conclusion of meetings on Thursday, Taliban spokesman Muhammad Sohail Shahee told journalists that a cease-fire was discussed “and we will continue this discussion,” but no agreement was made.
Elected Afghan government representatives did not attend the talks in Moscow, although a number of notable Afghan figures, including former president Hamid Karzai and members of a government-appointed peace council, were present.
Thursday’s attack on the Marshal Fahim National Defense University caught cadets as they were heading home for the weekend and was claimed by the extremist Islamic State group.
(c) 2019, The Washington Post · Siobhán O’Grady  
{Matzav.com}