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ISIL responsible for Jalalabad deadly attacks: President

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani speaks during a joint press conference at the White House in Washington, DC on March 24, 2015. ©AFP

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has condemned a series of deadly terrorist attacks in the country’s eastern city of Jalalabad, saying the ISIL terrorist group was responsible.

"Who claimed responsibility for horrific attack in Nangarhar today? The Taliban did not claim responsibility for the attack, ISIL claimed responsibility for the attack," President Ghani said on a visit to northeastern Badakhshan Province on Saturday.

"Carrying out terrorist attacks in cities and public places are the most cowardly acts of terror by terrorists targeting innocent civilians," he added.

On Saturday, a series of explosions in Afghanistan’s city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar Province killed at least 35 people and injured more than 100 others.

According to Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a provincial government spokesman, the explosion happened outside the New Kabul Bank branch when government employees and civilians were collecting their monthly salaries.

He said another blast took place near the Da Afghanistan Bank branch, just 60 meters away from the first attack.

He added that a third attack took place near a shrine in the city, in which no one was injured.

An Afghan woman walks past security personnel at the site of a terrorist attack outside a bank in Jalalabad on April 18, 2015. ©AFP

Earlier in the day, a person presenting himself as a spokesman for the ISIL said that the terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack. An online posting allegedly from the group had made the same claim.

The attacks come despite the presence of thousands of foreign forces in the war-torn country.

The United States and its allies invaded Afghanistan in 2001 as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror. The offensive removed Taliban from power, but insecurity still remains in some provinces.

The US-led combat mission in Afghanistan officially ended on December 31, 2014. However, at least 13,500 foreign forces, mainly from the United States, have remained in the country in what Washington calls a support mission. NATO says the forces will focus mainly on counterterrorism operations and training Afghan soldiers and policemen.

AR/HMV/SS


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