Twin blasts in Afghanistan kill 14 people, injure 45

KABUL: At least 14 people were killed and 45 others injured after two planted bombs exploded in the central Afghan province of Bamiyan on Tuesday.
While talking to the media, the police chief of the province, Zabardast Safai said the two bombs, hidden at the side of a road in the main bazaar in Bamiyan city, killed 12 civilians and two traffic policemen.
The police officials further said 45 people mostly from a nearby restaurant and shops sustained severe injuries.
Tariq Arian, spokesperson for the Interior Ministry also said 45 people were also wounded in a late afternoon blast in Bamiyan city in Bamiyan province. Several shops and vehicles were destroyed or damaged.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and Zabihullah Mujahid, Taliban spokesman, said the group was not involved.
Video: Aftermath of two magnetic IED blasts in #Bamiyan city that killed two people and wounded six more, according to officials. #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/EmPJ6VK2Qy
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Earlier, A journalist and a driver were killed while six people sustained injuries when a private bus carrying employees of an Afghan television station was bombed in the country’s capital on Saturday.
According to the director of Khurshid TV, a preliminary probe showed a bomb attached by magnets to a bus used by Khurshid TV employees was blown up in Kabul. As a result, a journalist and a driver were killed on the spot and six people sustained injuries.
Violence and chaos have increased in Afghanistan in recent months even as government negotiators and the Taliban are meeting in Qatar to find an end to decades of relentless war. The two sides have made little progress.
Afghanistan has seen decades of violent conflict that has left tens of thousands of civilians dead. US forces have been in the country since 2001 in an operation to oust the Taliban after the deadly 9/11 attacks in New York.
The Taliban was removed from power but later regrouped and now controls more territory than at any time since the start of America’s longest war.
In February the US started withdrawing its troops after signing a landmark agreement with the insurgents. But violence in the country has risen again as the Taliban steps up its offensives amid stalled negotiations with the Afghan government.