A roadside bombing in southern Afghanistan on Wednesday killed at least 8 civilians, including 6 children. No one claimed responsibility for the attack immediately, but both the Taliban and the state militants were active at the providence.
According to Helmand police spokesman Zaman Hamdard. The victims were all from a single family. The family has just left the southern district to Greshk when the bomb hit their car. Two more family members were wounded, he said. The Taliban have not commented on the incident yet, although the Afghanistan officials blamed the insurgents for planting the improvised explosive device.
Umer Zwak, a spokes man for the provincial governor in Helmand told Anadolu Agency that the incident took place in the Musa Qula district. At least three people were killed and more than ten others injured earlier in march in a football ground in the south eastern khost province.
The Taliban sent a three member technical team to Kabul to monitor the release of Taliban prisoners as part of a peace deal signed by the insurgents and the U.S. at the end of February. The deal calls for the Afghan government to release 5,000 of the militants prisoners and for the Taliban to free 1,000 government personnel and Afghan troops they hold captive. The deal is also supposed to be followed by Intra- Afghan peace talks that will include the Taliban.
According to official sources, there are 12,000-15,000 inmates, including foreigners from Pakistan, central Asia and Gulf countries, in different prisons across Afghanistan. The resurging violence in Afghanistan comes on the heels of reduction in violence week in line with the landmark deal between the U.S. and Taliban.
On Wednesday Kabul said that discussions between the government and the Taliban’s technical team would continue under the observation of the International committee of the Red Cross, though it is not known when the prisoner release process will start.
The Taliban held power over roughly three quarters of Afghanistan from 1996-2001 and enforced there is a strict interpretation of sharia or Islamic law. Currently Kabul where the bombing took place is extremely dangerous as the government have little or no control over Kabul which is effectively a war zone.
Details of the first talks regarding the U.S.- Taliban deal has emerged on Wednesday. The meeting took place in Kabul as Afghans observed right restrictions on movement because of the Corona virus pandemic.
Afghanistan has recorded almost 200 cases of Covid-19 and 4 people have died. Testing is not wide spread in the country. The Taliban had been due to send a large team to the Kabul talks, but in the end sent a three man delegation because of the virus outbreak. Movement of the prisoner swap has been slow because of the disagreements between president Ashraf Ghani and his main political rival Abdullah Abdullah.
