At least two people were killed when three blasts struck the Afghan city of Jalalabad on Saturday, one of which targeted a Taliban vehicle, in the country’s first deadly attack since the United States withdrew a few weeks ago.
Africa Today News, New York recalls that the hardline Islamist group stormed to power in mid-August, ousting the government and promising to restore security to the violence-wracked country.
‘In one attack a Taliban vehicle patrolling in Jalalabad was targeted,‘ a Taliban official who asked not to be named told reporters.
‘Women and children were among the injured,’ he added.
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An official from the health department of Nangarhar Province told reporters that three people died and 18 were wounded, while several local media reported the attacks left at least two dead.
Pictures taken at the site of the blast showed a green pick-up truck with a white Taliban flag surrounded by debris as armed fighters looked on.
Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar, the heartland of the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan branch.
A chaotic US-led evacuation of foreigners and Afghans who worked for international forces was marred by a devastating bomb attack claimed by IS which killed scores of people.
However, since the last American troop left on August 30, the violence-wracked country plagued by fighting, bombs and air strikes, has been free of major incidents.
Although both IS and the Taliban are hardline Sunni Islamist militants, they have differed on the minutiae of religion and strategy.
That tussle has led to bloody fighting between the two.
AFRICA TODAY NEWS, NEW YORK