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Taliban bomb attacks kill 27, injure 40 in Afghan capital

Thursday, 30 June 2016 8:39 AM [ Last Update: Thursday, 30 June 2016 9:51 AM ]

Afghan security forces are seen at the site of an attack on the western outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan, June 30, 2016. (Photo by Reuters)

Twin bomb attacks by the Taliban have targeted vehicles carrying police cadets on the western outskirts of the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least 27 people and injuring 40 others.

Three buses were attacked by two bombers as the vehicles approached the capital from neighboring Wardak Province, a police official said, according to preliminary information.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the first attack targeted a bus carrying police cadets and their instructors. Then, as rescuers and emergency services arrived, the second bomber rammed his car, packed with explosives, into their vehicles, killing dozens, he claimed.

The latest bombings come 10 days after an attack on a bus carrying Nepali security guards working for the Canadian embassy in Kabul killed 14 people.

Afghan security personnel stand near damaged vehicles at the scene of a bomb attack in Paghman district in Kabul, Afghanistan, May 25, 2016. (File photo by AFP)

In April, at least 64 people were killed in a Taliban attack on a security services facility in Kabul in the deadliest bombing of its kind in Afghanistan since 2011.

The militants have intensified their attacks following the appointment of Haibatullah Akhundzada as the group’s new leader.

Afghanistan has been gripped by insecurity since the US and its allies invaded the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.

Many parts of the country remain plagued by militancy despite the presence foreign troops from many US allies. According to a report by Amnesty International, at least 1.2 million Afghans have been internally displaced due to violence in the past three years.

Estimates show that about 200,000 people have been killed in the less than three decades of the Taliban militancy in Afghanistan.

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