By Canadian Press

3 bombings in Afghan capital; 1 killed, 2 reporters injured

Jun 2, 2019 | 5:28 AM

KABUL — Three explosions struck the Afghan capital on Sunday, killing at least one person and injuring 17 others, Afghan officials said. At least two Afghan journalists were also injured in the blasts, according to a local non-governmental media organization.

A sticky bomb attached to a bus carrying university students left one person dead and wounded ten others, said Nasrat Rahimi, spokesman for the interior ministry.

Two roadside bombs were then detonated nearby about 20 minutes later. The blasts wounded seven more people, including five members of the security forces who had arrived at the scene of the first explosion, located in a residential area of western Kabul.

Also wounded in Sunday’s attacks were at least two Afghan journalists, Ahmad Jawed Kargar and Mohammad Faseh Mutawakil, according to Nai, a media organization that supports open media in Afghanistan.

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Kargar, a photographer for the European Pressphoto Agency, confirmed he was injured by a secondary explosion in a video he posted to social media while being taken to the hospital.

Nai said Mutawakil had been lightly wounded.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but both Taliban and Islamic State militants are active in the capital and have staged attacks in Kabul.

In April 2018, nine journalists were killed and half a dozen wounded in a double suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s capital. In that attack, it appeared the journalists were intentionally targeted by a bomber who hid among members of the media rushing to cover the first explosion. IS claimed responsibility for the bombings, but didn’t say that journalists were specifically targeted.

In a separate attack late Saturday in eastern Ghazni province, a Taliban suicide bomber was able to enter a police compound using a stolen Humvee packed with explosives. The blast killed at least seven police reserve unit personnel and wounded eight others, said Nasr Ahmad Faqeri, head of Ghazni’s provincial council.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid took responsibility for the attack in Ghazni.

In western Farah province, at least six members of the border security forces were killed Saturday night in an attack on their checkpoint by Taliban insurgents. Abdul Samad Salehi, a provincial council member, said eight other members of the security forces were wounded. The Taliban offered no comment on the attack in Farah.

The Afghan capital has witnessed a wave of attacks in recent days. On Friday, a Taliban suicide car bomber targeted a U.S. convoy on Friday in an eastern neighbourhood, killing four Afghan civilians wounding three others, as well as lightly wounding four American forces. On Thursday, six people were killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside an Afghan army academy and training centre.

Attacks by the Taliban have continued unabated despite peace talks with the United States as well as a fresh round of talks with Afghan notables last week in the Russian capital, Moscow.

The Taliban have rejected repeated demands for a cease fire, saying the fighting will continue until U.S. and NATO troops withdraw from Afghanistan.

Rahim Faiez, The Associated Press