Truck bomb kills six in Logar

A truck bomb targeting an Afghan Special Forces base in an eastern Logar province killed at least six people and wounded dozens, officials said on Thursday.

Explosion in fragile Logar province south of Kabul is first major insurgent attack since announcement of Mullah Omar’s death.

“A water truck filled with explosives was detonated when it was stopped at the gate of the quick reaction force [police] compound,” said the deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Qari Wara. “It was a powerful explosion which killed three members of the quick reaction force and three civilians.”

Din Mohammad Darwish, spokesman for the governor of Logar province, said the massive blast, in provincial capital Puli Alam included three police officers and five civilians. Five police were among the wounded.

“The bomb was huge and it was carried by a mini-truck,” said provincial governor Aleem Fedaee. “It inflicted a lot of damage to the civilians and broke windows even a kilometer away.”

The explosion in the provincial capital of Pul-i-Alam, about 100 km (62 miles) from Kabul, wounded more than 20 civilians, including 11 doctors at a nearby hospital, a doctor at the hospital said.

The force of the explosion damaged government buildings nearby, while the site of the attack was littered with debris and shards of broken glass.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying the targets were military and paramilitary units.

Afghan troops have been battling a rising insurgency that has killed and wounded thousands of soldiers, police and civilians since the beginning of the year.

The Taliban distanced themselves from the second round of talks with the Afghan government that were scheduled for last Friday but were cancelled after the announcement of Omar’s death.