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News > Afghanistan

Afghanistan: Explosions Injure Dozens on Independence Day

  • Wounded men lay on the ground as they wait transfer to the hospital, after a blast in Jalalabad.

    Wounded men lay on the ground as they wait transfer to the hospital, after a blast in Jalalabad. | Photo: Reuters

Published 19 August 2019
Opinion

The blasts came as the country mourns a bomb attack that killed at least 63 people and wounded nearly 200 over the weekend.

Dozens of people including children were wounded after a series of explosions hit the Afghan eastern city of Jalalabad in the Nangarhar Province, as the country was commemorating its 100th year of independence from the British rule.

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Noor Ahmad Habibi, the spokesman for the provincial governor, said at least 10 explosions occurred around Jalalabad. “Most of the people had minor injuries and were released after treatment at local hospitals,” he added.

"We came to the city to celebrate and were headed to the main square when the bomb went off. I got injured and then someone brought me to the hospital," Walid, 17, from the Pachir Agaam district in Jalalabad, told media.

"It was supposed to be a happy day and they come and kill people. They brought us sorrow on a day where people were supposed to be happy."

Both the Taliban and the local affiliate of the Islamic State group are active in Nangarhar province, but no militant group has claimed responsibility for the blasts.

The blasts came as the country mourns a bomb attack that occurred over the weekend on a wedding ceremony in the capital, Kabul, in which at least 63 people were killed and nearly 200 wounded.

Presidential elections are expected to be held on Sept. 28 but the security situation has been deteriorating across the country with the Taliban and Islamic State fighters mounting a near-daily attack on Afghan forces, government employees and civilians.

The Taliban, who retook control of half the country, dismiss the elections as a sham and warned Afghans to avoid both campaign rallies and the polls, as they won’t “talk to the Kabul administration as a government,” seeing they consider it a U.S. pawn. 

Meanwhile, the latest round of talks between the Taliban and the United States ended last week in Doha without a peace deal for the war-torn country, as both sides said they would consult with their leaderships on the next steps. The U.S. insists it will have a peace deal by Sept. 1 before the elections. 

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