A roadside bomb exploded in Afghanistan’s capital killing at least three people in a vehicle on Sunday, the latest attack to take place even as government negotiators are in Qatar to resume peace talks with the Taliban.
Tariq Arian, spokesman for the interior minister, said a spokesman for the ministry’s public protection force was one of the three killed in the attack.
Zia Wadan was spokesman for the National Public Protection Force, a security service under the interior ministry that deploys guards to international organisations across Afghanistan.
Wadan and his colleagues were killed in morning rush-hour traffic in an eastern part of the capital, interior ministry spokesman Arian told reporters.
“A vehicle carrying Zia Wadan was targeted with an IED [improvised explosive device] … As a result, Wadan and two of his colleagues were killed,” Arian said, adding another person was wounded.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Afghan security officers inspect the site of a bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan [Rahmat Gul/AP]
Deadly violence has surged across the country in recent months, and a new trend of targeted killings that has sown fear, especially in Kabul.
High-profile figures including journalists, politicians and rights activists have increasingly been targeted despite peace talks between the government and Taliban.
Since November, five journalists have been killed in targeted killings along with several other prominent figures.
The armed group ISIL (ISIS) has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the capital in recent months, including on educational institutions that killed 50 people, most of them students. ISIL also claimed responsibility for rocket attacks in December targeting the major United States base in Afghanistan. There were no casualties.
The Taliban, meanwhile, has continued its fight against government forces while keeping a promise not to attack US and NATO troops.
