Afghan officials: Taliban wave of attacks kills at least 34

Published On: October 17, 2017 06:56 PM NPT By: Associated Press

A police man stands guard at his vehicle at the site of a suicide attack outside a Shiite mosque in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, Sept. 29, 2017. A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday, killing four people and wounding 20 others, authorities said. (AP)

KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct 17: The Taliban unleashed a wave of attacks across Afghanistan on Tuesday, targeting police compounds and government facilities in the country's south, west and east and killing at least 34 people, including civilians, officials said.

The deadliest attack was in the southern Ghazni province where the insurgents stormed a security compound in Andar district, using a suicide car.

Arif Noori, spokesman for the provincial, said 15 policemen and five civilians were killed in the onslaught, which lasted nine hours. The attack also wounded 24 policemen and 20 civilians. By the time the attackers were repelled, there were 13 bodies of Taliban fighters on the ground, Noori added.

Also Tuesday, in eastern Paktia province, the insurgents targeted a police training center in Gardez, the provincial capital, with two suicide bombings.

The Ministry of Interior said that after the two cars blew up, five attackers with suicide belts tried to storm the compound but Afghan security forces "killed all five terrorist."

The statement also said the attack killed the provincial chief of police, Toryalai Abdyani, and killed and wounded a number of others but that detailed casualty figures would be released later.

According to the Health Ministry spokesman, Waheed Majroo, at least 14 people were killed in the Gardez attack. The city hospital reported receiving 130 wounded in the attack, he said.

Hamza Aqmhal, a student at the Paktia University, told The Associated Press that he heard a very powerful blast that shattered glass and broke all the windows at the building he was in. The university is about 2 kilometers (1.25 miles) from the training academy, said Aqmhal, who was slightly injured by the glass.

A lawmaker from Paktia, Mujeeb Rahman Chamkni, said that along with the provincial chief of police, several of his staff were among those killed in the attack. Most of the casualties were civilians who had come to the center, which also serves a government passport department.

And in western Farah province, police chief Abdul Maruf Fulad says the Taliban attacked a government compound in Shibkho district, killing three policemen.

The Taliban have claimed responsibility for all three attacks.