A suicide car bombing on Monday killed 14 people, including 10 Afghan police officers, as the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on the capital of Helmand.
A suicide car bombing on Monday killed 14 people, including 10 Afghan police officers, as the Taliban launched a large-scale attack on the capital of Helmand.
Since the beginning of this year, the Taliban have expanded their footprint in the province and have been at the gates of Lashkar Gah, the capital, for weeks.
Haji Marjan, the police chief of Nad Ali district who has been deployed to the capital, said the explosion took place around 11.30 am, after the Taliban targeted police checkpoints across the city.
Marjan said at least 10 police officers, including his brother, and four civilians died in the bombing in the Mukhtar area of Lashkar Gah’s police district 2. He warned that the death toll was likely to rise.
A doctor at the international emergency hospital in Lashkar Gah said 14 bodies had been brought to the clinic. On the condition of anonymity, he said 15 wounded were also brought in.
In Kabul, Sediq Sediqqi, the interior ministry spokesman, confirmed the Taliban attack in Lashkar Gah on Monday.
Abdul Majeed Akhonzada, the deputy director of Helmand’s provincial council, said the militants entered the city after breaching the Afghan forces’ “defense security belt”.
