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UAE ambassador injured in Kandahar blast

US military forces stand guard during a visit by Afghan officials in the governor's compound in Kandahar, Afghanistan, on August 4, 2016. (Photo by AP)

The United Arab Emirates' ambassador to Afghanistan has been injured after a bomb ripped through a guesthouse in the eastern city of Kandahar, the UAE Foreign Ministry says.

“[The ministry] is following the heinous terrorist attack on the guesthouse of the Kandahar governor which resulted in the injury of his Excellency Juma Mohammed Abdullah al-Kaabi, UAE Ambassador to the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, and a number of Emirati diplomats," the ministry said in a statement on Tuesday.

According to local sources, at least nine people were killed and 18 others wounded after explosives hidden in a sofa in the governor's compound in Kandahar were detonated during a visit by the UAE envoy.

Kandahar's governor was also wounded by flames from the explosion, but many others were burned beyond recognition, provincial police chief Abdul Raziq said.

The explosion came on the same day that at least 38 people were killed and 72 others injured in twin bomb attacks in a crowded area near Afghanistan’s parliament in the capital city of Kabul.

Afghan security forces remove a damaged bus after twin blasts near the Afghan parliament in Kabul on January 10, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

Most of the victims were civilians, an Afghan security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Tuesday.

Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, claimed responsibility for the twin blasts.

The Taliban militants lost their grip over Afghanistan in the 2001 US-led invasion, but security has never taken hold in the country despite the presence of foreign boots on Afghan soil.

The Taliban are conducting constant bomb attacks across the country, with several international efforts to broker peace talks with the terrorist group ending in failure.

Nearly 10,000 US troops are still in Afghanistan under Washington’s so-called plan to assist Afghan forces to combat Taliban, al-Qaeda and Daesh Takfiri terrorists.

The Daesh terrorist group is competing with the Taliban in acts of terror. Daesh has claimed responsibility for earlier attacks on Shia events and mosques.


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