The Taliban suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted presidential guards who were protecting President Ashraf Ghani at a campaign rally in northern Afghanistan. Photo / AP
The Taliban suicide bomber on a motorcycle targeted presidential guards who were protecting President Ashraf Ghani at a campaign rally in northern Afghanistan. Photo / AP
Taliban suicide bombers have left 48 people dead and dozens wounded in two attacks yesterday.
This was the deadliest single day since the peace agreement with Taliban insurgents was terminated.
One of the attacks was at a campaign rally for President Ashraf Ghani's election where a motorcyclist set off asuicide bomb at a checkpoint. According to Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the interior ministry, 26 people were killed and 42 were wounded.
Ghani has addressed both attacks stating: "By continuing their crimes, the Taliban have once again proven that they have no will and desire for peace and stability in Afghanistan and that all their movements are nothing but deceit."
There were many women and children among the casualties in the bombing near Ghani's rally, said Dr Qasim Sangin, a local official.
Afghan security forces work at the site of a suicide attack near the US Embassy in Kabul. Photo / AP
Just over an hour later, the other bomb was set off in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul near the US embassy. Twenty-two people were killed and 38 were wounded, authorities have said.
A shopkeeper in Kabul said that he had been sitting inside of his shop when the second explosion went off. "The wave broke all the windows," he told AFP. "I rushed outside and saw several bodies just across the street. This is the second time in less than a month that a blast has broken our windows. I just fixed them a week ago."
The catastrophic explosions came after US President Donald Trump suddenly ended peace talks about withdrawing US troops from its longest war with the Taliban earlier this month.
Trump's tweets at the beginning of September stated that the deal and talks were "dead". His decision comes after two attacks in Kabul killed two Nato soldiers, one of whom was an American, in recent weeks.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid sent a statement to the media claiming responsibility for both the attacks.
"We already warned people not to attend election rallies, if they suffer any losses that is their own responsibility," the statement said.
Mujahid also revealed that the attack at the rally was deliberate to disrupt the election scheduled for September 28.
The election has been sidelined for weeks after the US-Taliban talks where many Afghans expected the vote to be cancelled if a deal was agreed.
Ghani is seeking a clear negotiation with the Taliban on the lasting peace in Afghanistan.
