SHAFAQNA -Â At least six people were killed and 10 others wounded in a suicide-bomb attack in Logar province, some 170 kilometers (105 miles) south of the Afghan capital Kabul on Thursday, officials have said.
A truck bomb targeted Logar’s provincial council offices and Rapid Reaction Forces (RRF) headquarters in Pul Alam, the provincial capital.
According to chief of the provincial council, Haseeb Stanikzai, 16 people have been killed or wounded.
“Initial reports shows that at least three military personnel and three civilians have died,” Stanikzai told reporters.
He added that at least nine civilians and one police officer were wounded, warning that the number of dead could increase.
The office building and RRF compound sustained heavy damage in the blast.
Most of the dead and wounded civilians were clients of council members, waiting for meetings.
The Taliban’s self-proclaimed spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said the group took responsibility for the attack and claimed at least 100 policemen had been killed and wounded.
It was the first attack conducted by Taliban militants after announcing death of their leader, Mullah Omar, on July 29.
Nearly 5,000 Afghan civilians were killed or injured in the first half of 2015, marking an increase on the previous year.
A UN report released in Kabul on Wednesday projected the number of civilian casualties in 2015 to equal or exceed the previous year, which was a record high.
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