At least 5 people were killed Thursday, when a truck packed with explosives blew up near a court in the eastern Afghan city of Gardez in an attack claimed by the Taliban.
“A car bomb explosion took place near a military court in Gardez city, which is a populated area. Dozens of civilians are feared to be dead and wounded”, an interior ministry spokesman said. A military spokesman said that 5 people were killed and 14 were wounded.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the rebel group was responsible for the attack.
The Taliban have largely refrained from launching major attacks on Afghan cities since a February deal with the United States meant to pave the way for peace talks with the Kabul government. However, the group sees a political deadlock between president Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah as a sign of weakness.
On Tuesday, gunmen stormed a maternity hospital in the western part of Kabul, setting off an hours-long shoot-out with the police and killing 16 people, including newborn babies, their mothers and an unspecified number of nurses. The same day, at least 24 people were killed and dozens more wounded in a suicide blast claimed by ISIS at a funeral in eastern Afghanistan.
Following the attacks, Ghani said that Afghanistan’s security forces will go on the offensive against the Taliban and other militant groups. The Taliban, which denied involvement in either attack, responded that it was “fully prepared” to repel any military offensive.
