A grim day of assassinations and bombings for Afghans

Targeted assassinations and roadside IED blasts rattled Afghanistan Saturday after a number of incidents were reported throughout the day around the country.

Dozens of civilians were killed or wounded in roadside explosions while government employees were targeted in various attacks.

On Saturday night, Ministry of Interior spokesman Tariq Arian posted on Twitter that in the past few hours at least 15 people were killed or wounded in two IED blasts.

The explosions happened in Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh province and in Janikhail district of Paktika province.

Arian said among the wounded were civilians, including eight women and two children, and blamed the Taliban for these incidents.

“This criminal approach of the Taliban is condemned,” he said.

In the Mazar-e-Sharif explosion, an IED had been in a cart when detonated in PD1 in the city.

A Balkh official said the IED was detonated as a security vehicle drove by.

However, civilians paid the price. One woman died and five others were taken to hospital.

In an incident in Paktika, a tractor and trailer, transporting a wedding party, hit a roadside bomb on Saturday afternoon injuring 20 women and children.

Shah Mohammad Areen, a spokesman for the Paktika police chief, said the incident took place in the Janikhail district. He said seven of the victims are in critical condition and have been transferred to a Kabul hospital.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

In another incident in Paktika, Areen told Ariana News that Dad Mohammad Etemadi, the Yousufkhail district police chief, was gunned down while driving home on Saturday night.

He was shot dead by unknown gunmen, Areen said.

This comes after Ayub Gharwal, the deputy head of the Paktia Provincial Council, was gunned down on Saturday morning in Gardez city.

Paktia officials said the incident happened at about 5.30am in Gardez city while Gharwal was on his way to Gardez University. 

Officials said Gharwal was seriously wounded in the attack and later died in hospital from gunshot wounds. 

In yet another attack on Saturday morning, Colonel Asif Tokhi, the Paktika security chief, was killed in a roadside bomb blast. The incident happened while he was on his way to help security force members thwart an attack on a checkpoint

On Thursday, Afghan acting Defense Minister Asadullah Khalid said the Taliban has stepped up violence to gain leverage around the peace talks tables.