The Latest: Afghan official says Taliban kill 9 in Kandahar

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Latest on developments (all times local):

An Afghan official says Taliban insurgents attacked police checkpoints in southern Kandahar province, killing nine police.

Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kandahar, says Tuesday that seven other police were wounded late Monday in the attack in Arghistan district.

Zia Durrani, provincial police spokesmen, says 25 Taliban were killed and 15 others wounded in the battle.

Arghistan is one of the violate districts of Kandahar close to Pakistani border.

An Afghan official says an Islamic State suicide bomber has killed 20 people in northern Afghanistan, including a Taliban commander.

Abdul Qayuom Baqizoi, provincial chief police of northern Sar-i-Pul province, said the attack Tuesday took place as village elders met with Taliban officials in the area.

In northern Afghanistan, Taliban and the Islamic State group have been waging bitter battles in recent days. As many as 100 insurgents from both the Taliban and Islamic State have perished in recent battles, said Baqizoi.

Provincial council chief Mohammed Noor Rahman said the explosion occurred in a mosque as a funeral was taking place.

The area is remote and it was impossible to reconcile the differing accounts.

An Afghan official says at least 54 people, including security personnel and civilians, have been released from a Taliban prison in southern Helmand province.

Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said Tuesday the prisoners were freed after a commando unit raided the prison late Monday night in Musa Qala district.

Zwak said there were 32 civilians, 16 police, four soldiers and two military doctors who had been locked up by the insurgents.

He said security forces were still securing the area.

The Taliban did not immediately comment on the raid, but the insurgents are in control of the majority of the districts in Helmand, where they have increased their attacks against provincial officials and security forces. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The Latest on developments (all times local):

An Afghan official says Taliban insurgents attacked police checkpoints in southern Kandahar province, killing nine police.

Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor in Kandahar, says Tuesday that seven other police were wounded late Monday in the attack in Arghistan district.

Zia Durrani, provincial police spokesmen, says 25 Taliban were killed and 15 others wounded in the battle.

Arghistan is one of the violate districts of Kandahar close to Pakistani border.

An Afghan official says an Islamic State suicide bomber has killed 20 people in northern Afghanistan, including a Taliban commander.

Abdul Qayuom Baqizoi, provincial chief police of northern Sar-i-Pul province, said the attack Tuesday took place as village elders met with Taliban officials in the area.

In northern Afghanistan, Taliban and the Islamic State group have been waging bitter battles in recent days. As many as 100 insurgents from both the Taliban and Islamic State have perished in recent battles, said Baqizoi.

Provincial council chief Mohammed Noor Rahman said the explosion occurred in a mosque as a funeral was taking place.

The area is remote and it was impossible to reconcile the differing accounts.

An Afghan official says at least 54 people, including security personnel and civilians, have been released from a Taliban prison in southern Helmand province.

Omar Zwak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said Tuesday the prisoners were freed after a commando unit raided the prison late Monday night in Musa Qala district.

Zwak said there were 32 civilians, 16 police, four soldiers and two military doctors who had been locked up by the insurgents.

He said security forces were still securing the area.

The Taliban did not immediately comment on the raid, but the insurgents are in control of the majority of the districts in Helmand, where they have increased their attacks against provincial officials and security forces. </s> KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said.

“A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand,” Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead, while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

“The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians,” the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists. </s> At least 16 people have been killed in southern Afghanistan when security forces tried to dispose of a container full of explosives in the city of Kandahar, officials said.

Nematullah Barak, head of Mirwais hospital in Kandahar, said the latest figures "show 16 dead and 38 wounded people brought to the hospital".

"We still have two ambulances at the site because there might be more people under the rubble," he told AFP news agency.

Daud Ahmadi, spokesman for the provincial governor, confirmed the death toll and said four security forces were among those killed.

At least five small children were wounded in the explosion, he said.

Dozens of shops and nearby homes were destroyed or damaged, and the death toll could rise, he said.

Abdul Saleh, 29, who was wounded in the blast, said the sound was "so loud, like strong thunder".

He told The Associated Press that he was knocked unconscious and later woke up in a hospital bed.

There was some confusion about the cause of the explosion, which sent a huge cloud of dust and smoke into the air.

Officials initially said it was caused by a bomb packed into a minibus but later said the explosives were in two containers stored in an area of mechanics workshops.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

The blast was quickly condemned by President Ashraf Ghani, who praised the "brave" officers who dealt with it.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, the Taliban launched a wave of attacks late on Monday in the eastern Ghazni province, killing at least 14 police, including a district police chief and a reserve unit's commander, according to provincial council member Hassan Reza Yusoufi.

Hundreds of people have been killed in high-profile attacks carried out by the Taliban and Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group since the beginning of this year.

At least 11 Afghan schoolchildren were killed in Kandahar province last month when a suicide car bomber hit a convoy of Romanian troops patrolling the area as part of the US-led NATO forces.

In one of the deadliest attacks, at least 29 people, including nine journalists, were killed after two explosions claimed by the ISIL hit the capital, Kabul, last month.

An increase in attacks has been observed ahead of the long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections scheduled for October 20. </s> KANDAHAR - A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said.

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor, told AFP.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists. </s> Kandahar: Taliban bombers targeting a district centre in southern Afghanistan have killed at least 19 people, including eight election workers, officials said on Sunday.



The attack comes as a new round of talks between the United States and the Taliban to end the 18-year long war in Afghanistan entered a second day in Qatar.

The militants rammed four armoured vehicles packed with explosives into a government compound in Maruf district late Saturday, a police spokesman in southern Kandahar province said.

"Unfortunately 11 policemen were martyred and 27 more injured," Qasim Afghan told AFP.

Eight election workers who were stationed at the centre to register voters ahead of the presidential polls in September were also killed in the attack, said Zabiullah Sadaat, a spokesman for Afghanistan´s Independent Election Commission (IEC).

Afghanistan´s twice-delayed presidential election is now slated for September 28.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with a spokesman tweeting that their fighters had captured the district centre, killing 57 security forces.

Afghanistan´s interior ministry however rejected the claim, saying in a statement that the militants had been beaten back and 25 insurgents killed.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the "barbaric and unforgivable" attacks, which are the latest in a relentless wave of assaults by the Taliban, who now hold sway over about half of the country and regularly target government forces.

The insurgents killed at least 25 members of a pro-government militia in an attack in northern Baghlan province on Saturday.

The violence comes amid stepped-up efforts by the United States to find a negotiated end to America´s longest war, with Washington and the Taliban opening a fresh round of negotiations in Doha on Saturday. </s> KANDAHAR: A Taliban suicide bomber killed at least 13 people and wounded several more in an attack on a convoy of Afghan soldiers in Helmand province late Sunday, an official said.

"A suicide bomber detonated an explosive-filled car as the Afghan National Army convoy passed a small market in Nawa District of Helmand," Omar Zwak, a spokesman for the provincial governor told.

He added that civilians and forces personnel were among the dead while more than a dozen others had been wounded.

A source working at a nearby hospital told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bodies of 15 victims had been brought to the hospital. Another 19 injured were also admitted, he added.

"The majority of the dead belong to Afghan forces and most of the wounded are civilians," the source said.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a WhatsApp message sent to journalists. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says the Taliban stormed a police checkpoint in eastern Nangarhar province, killing seven policemen.

Provincial police chief Ghulam Sanayee Stanikzai said Monday that the attack took place the previous night in the district of Ghani Kahil.

He says that five Taliban fighters were killed in the attack.

Stanikzai says that in Khogyani district, also in Nangarhar province, a government airstrike on Sunday night left 20 Taliban fighters dead.

There was no statement from the Taliban on either the Ghani Kahil attack or the airstrike.

Earlier on Sunday, a suicide bomber on foot struck outside a ministry building in the capital, Kabul, killing seven people and wounding 15.

Last month, a suicide bombing near the same ministry killed 12 people and wounding 31 others, mostly government employees. </s> KANDAHAR, Afghanistan: Taliban bombers targeting a district centre in southern Afghanistan have killed at least 19 people, including eight election workers, officials said on Sunday.

The attack comes as a new round of talks between the United States and the Taliban to end the 18-year long war in Afghanistan entered a second day in Qatar. The militants rammed four armoured vehicles packed with explosives into a government compound in Maruf district late Saturday, a police spokesman in southern Kandahar province said. “Unfortunately 11 policemen were martyred and 27 more injured,” Qasim Afghan said.

Eight election workers who were stationed at the centre to register voters ahead of the presidential polls in September were also killed in the attack, said Zabiullah Sadaat, a spokesman for Afghanistan’s Independent Election Commission (IEC).

Afghanistan’s twice-delayed presidential election is now slated for September 28. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, with a spokesman tweeting that their fighters had captured the district centre, killing 57 security forces.

Afghanistan’s interior ministry however rejected the claim, saying in a statement that the militants had been beaten back and 25 insurgents killed. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the “barbaric and unforgivable” attacks, which are the latest in a relentless wave of assaults by the Taliban, who now hold sway over about half of the country and regularly target government forces. The insurgents killed at least 25 members of a pro-government militia in an attack in northern Baghlan province on Saturday.

The violence comes amid stepped-up efforts by the United States to find a negotiated end to America´s longest war, with Washington and the Taliban opening a fresh round of negotiations in Doha on Saturday.
An ISIL suicide bomber killed 20 people in northern Afghanistan on Tuesday, including a Taliban commander. In southern Kandahar province, the Taliban attacked a police checkpoint in Arghistan district late on Monday night, killing nine policemen and wounding seven. 25 Taliban fighters were killed and 15 were wounded in the ensuing battle.