KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan police official says at least 14 people have been killed in a suicide car bombing in the capital of southern Helmand province.

Haji Marjan says the attack happened on Monday in the city of Lashkar Gah. He says 10 police officers and four civilians were killed but warned that the death toll is likely to rise as it is unclear how many people remain unaccounted for after the explosion.

Lashkar Gah has been under attack by Taliban militants who officials said had entered the city earlier in the day.

The Taliban have been on the outskirts of the city for months, as part of their march across Helmand, where most of the word’s opium is produced. </s> KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AP) — A local police chief in Afghanistan says a suicide car bombing targeted Afghan soldiers lining up outside a bank in southern Helmand province, killing at least 15 people.

Provincial police chief Gen. Agha Noor Kentoz says the attacker struck on Thursday in Lashkargah, the provincial capital. He says at least a dozen people were wounded in the explosion outside a Kabul Bank branch.

People likely had gathered there to collect salaries ahead of the upcoming holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Haji Moladad Tobagar, health director in Lashkargah told The Associated Press that the hospital received 25 bodies after the attack, as well as 60 wounded.

He says he fears an even higher casualty toll as more victims were being brought in. The discrepancies in the casualty tolls could not immediately be reconciled. </s> ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - A suicide car bomber killed more than 14 people, mostly police officers, and wounded many more in an embattled key provincial capital in southern Afghanistan, hours after Taliban insurgents staged a major assault and forced their way into the city.



The bomber reportedly rammed an explosives-packed vehicle into a police base in Lashkar Gah, the capital of Helmand, the largest of all 34 Afghan provinces.



Local police officials say they expect the death toll to rise.



The bombing occurred shortly after Taliban insurgents assaulted Lashkar Gah from different sides, fighting their way into the city they have kept under siege for weeks.



Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi confirmed to reporters in Kabul the Taliban staged a major attack on security outposts in the provincial capital and intense fighting was raging; but, he sounded confident Afghan security forces will soon push back the insurgents.

Afghan Special Forces and policemen prepare themse Afghan Special Forces and policemen prepare themselves for battle with the Taliban on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah capital of Helmand, Oct. 10, 2016. Afghan Special Forces and policemen prepare themselves for battle with the Taliban on the outskirts of Lashkar Gah capital of Helmand, Oct. 10, 2016.





In an audio message sent to reporters, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the fighters were advancing through Lashkar Gah after overrunning "a number of checkpoints."



The Taliban has made significant territorial gains in Helmand this year and the Afghan government is believed to be in full control of only two of the province's 14 districts.



The Taliban assault on Lashkar Gah followed Saturday's emergency visit to the city by the U.S. commander of NATO's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson. Addressing tribal elders and officials in Lashkar Gah, he assured them Afghan and international forces are determined not to let the city fall to the Taliban.



Kunduz operations



Meanwhile, authorities say security forces have made progress in operations aimed at evicting Taliban insurgents from parts of the northern city of Kunduz. The rebel group staged a surprise multi-pronged offensive on the provincial capital a week ago and captured territory inside Kunduz.

Afghan policemen keep watch in the downtown of Kun Afghan policemen keep watch in the downtown of Kunduz city, Oct. 3, 2016. Afghan policemen keep watch in the downtown of Kunduz city, Oct. 3, 2016.





Civilians fleeing conflict

The U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) in Kabul has warned the conflict in the northern city continued to inflict suffering on Afghan civilians.



"At least 32,000 people from Kunduz have fled due to the fighting; but, given that assessments are ongoing and many families are still on the move, we expect this figure to change rapidly," Danielle Moylan, a spokesperson for UNOCHA, told VOA.



She reiterated that her office is deeply concerned about the deteriorating situation in Kunduz where families still trapped have been living for a week with limited access to clean water, electricity and food.



"Many families, including women and children, risk their lives if they attempt to leave their homes to find food, which has been difficult to find, and has more than doubled in price," she said.



The United Nations has warned that conflict-related displacements and Afghan refugees returning from neighboring Pakistan and Iran at an unusually rapid pace will have more than one million on the move in Afghanistan by the end of the year in addition to hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people.



The U.N. has recently launched a flash appeal of $150 million to meet urgent needs of the displaced families.



"However, given that 10 percent of the entire year's internal displacement has occurred in the last week alone due to the Kunduz fighting, ... the humanitarian community will find it very challenging to assist the most vulnerable returnees and IDP's in Afghanistan without further funding," cautioned Moylan. </s> A Humvee sits parked next to the Helmand provincial police headquarters sign in Lashkar Gah, Afghanistan, in this file photo from July 2, 2012. A suicide car bombing on Monday killed 14 people, including 10 Afghan police officers, as the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on the capital in southern Helmand province, the heartland of the insurgency.

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A suicide car bombing on Monday killed 14 people, including 10 Afghan police officers, as the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on the capital in southern Helmand province, the heartland of the insurgency.

Since the beginning of this year's fighting season, the Taliban have expanded their footprint across most of the province and have been at the gates of the city of Lashkar Gah, the provincial capital, for weeks.

According to Haji Marjan, the police chief of Nad Ali district who has been deployed to the provincial capital, the explosion happened around 11.30 a.m., after the Taliban earlier targeted police checkpoints across the city.

Marjan said at least 10 police officers, including his brother, and four civilians died in the bombing in the Mukhtar area of Lashkar Gah's police district 2. He warned that the death toll was likely to rise as it was unclear how many people remain unaccounted for after the explosion.

A doctor at the international emergency hospital in Lashkar Gah said 14 bodies had been brought to the clinic. Speaking on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak to the media, the physician said 15 wounded were also brought in, including 14 who were victims of the car bombing and one person who suffered gunshot wounds.

In the Afghan capital of Kabul, Sediq Sediqqi, the Interior Ministry spokesman, confirmed that the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on security checkpoints in Lashkar Gah on Monday but expressed confidence the Afghan security forces "will soon push them back."

Abdul Majeed Akhonzada, the deputy director of Helmand's provincial council, said the militants entered the city after breaching the Afghan forces' "defense security belt."

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the insurgents were advancing through Lashkar Gah.

Helmand is strategically important for the Taliban as it is the main source of the country's opium output, worth an estimated $4 billion a year, much of which funds the war. Provincial officials have said the Taliban now control 85 percent of the province, while only a year ago, the government controlled 80 percent. </s> The Taliban militants group conducted a suicide car bombing in the vicinity of Lashkargah city as they attempted to enter the provincial capital of southern Helmand province.

According to the local government officials, the suicide attack was carried out in the 2nd police district of the city amid ongoing clashes between the Afghan forces and the Taliban insurgents.

Provincial governor’s spokesman Omar Zwak confirmed the report and said at least 14 people were killed or injured in the suicide car bombing.

He said several civilians were among those killed or wounded in the suicide attack carried out by the Taliban militants.

However, the provincial hospital sources said at least 30 people wounded in the suicide attack were taken to the emergency hospital from the site of the incident.

In the meantime, the lawmaker representing Helmand in the Lower House of the Parliament, Abdulhai Akhundzada confirmed that the Taliban insurgents managed to enter Lashkargah city.

But the provincial security adviser Toryalai Hemat said the Afghan special forces managed to push the Taliban militants from the 2nd police district of the city after they launched a coordinated attack to capture its control.

Follow Khaama Press (KP) | Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook. Stay updated via RSS </s> A suicide bomber kills seven people and wounds 20 others outside a bank in the capital city of Afghanistan's Helmand province on February 11, 2017. A suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded 20 others outside a bank in the capital city of Afghanistan's Helmand province today, the governor's office said.

Start the conversation, or Read more at The Daily Star. </s> LASHKAR GAH: A suicide bomber killed seven people and wounded 20 others outside a bank in the capital city of Afghanistan’s Helmand province on Saturday, the governor’s office said on Saturday.

The bomber detonated an explosives-packed car next to an Afghan army vehicle as soldiers arrived at a bank in Lashkar Gah to collect their pay, the Helmand governor´s spokesman, Omar Zwak, said. Among the dead were four civilians and three soldiers. Sixteen civilians and four soldiers were wounded, he said.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban have seized large areas of Helmand and have often threatened Lashkar Gah.

Hundreds of international troops are stationed in Helmand as part of the Nato-led effort to train and support Afghan security forces, which have struggled to contain a growing insurgency. At least one American special forces soldier was wounded in fighting there this week.

To the north of Lashkar Gah, a local official said that an American military air strike killed a number of civilians in a recent bombing in Sangin district. The allegation has not been independently verified.

US military spokesman Captain Bill Salvin said that the US jets had conducted strikes in Sangin in the past few weeks. While US forces had "no evidence that civilians were killed in these strikes", Salvin said the command would investigate the claims.

"We take every precaution to prevent and mitigate civilian casualties and we take every allegation seriously," he said.

Suicide bomber kills seven, injures 20 in Afghanistan was posted in Top Story of TheNews International - https://www.thenews.com.pk on February 12, 2017 and was last updated on February 12, 2017. This news story is related to Print/185777-Suicide-bomber-kills-seven-injures-20-in-Afghanistan/ - breaking news, latest news, pakistan ne. Permanent link to the news story "Suicide bomber kills seven, injures 20 in Afghanistan" is https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/185777-Suicide-bomber-kills-seven-injures-20-in-Afghanistan. </s> Kabul: A suicide bomber struck a voter registration centre in the Afghanistan capital on Sunday, killing at least 31 people, officials said.

Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Majro said another 54 people were wounded in Sunday's attack, updating an earlier toll. General Daud Amin, the Kabul police chief, said the suicide bomber targeted civilians who had gathered to receive national identification cards.

The large explosion echoed across the city, shattering windows miles away from the attack site and damaging several nearby vehicles. Police blocked all roads to the blast site, with only ambulances allowed in. Local TV stations broadcast live footage of hundreds of distraught people gathered at nearby hospitals seeking word about loved ones.

The Taliban, who usually claim their attacks, denied involvement. That means the bombing was likely carried out by a local Islamic State affiliate, which has been behind past bombings in Kabul that targeted civilians. Both groups are opposed to democratic elections.

Last week, three police officers responsible for guarding voter registration centres in two Afghan provinces were killed by militants, according to authorities.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a district police chief in the northern Balkh province died of his wounds after being shot Saturday during a gunbattle with insurgents, according to Sher Jan Durrani, spokesman for the provincial police chief in Balkh. He said around a dozen insurgents were also killed in the battle, which is still underway.

Durrani identified the slain commander as Halim Khanjar, police chief for the Char Bolak district.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the killing. </s> Atleast 9 people including three policemen were killed by a suicide bomber in Afghanistan. 13 people were injured in the attack. The fatal incident occurred in the capital city of eastern Nangarhar province, Jalalabad on Thursday.

A suicide bomber has walked up to an Afghan police vehicle and detonated an explosive device that killed three police and six civilians. No militant group has claimed the responsibility of the attack.
A suicide bombing kills at least 14 people, mostly police officers, in Lashkargah, Helmand Province, as Taliban insurgents advance upon the Afghan city.