At least 24 people have been killed in a suicide bomb attack on Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s election campaign today. Ghani himself remained unharmed, according to local officials.
The attack in eastern provincial capital Tsharikar has injured 31 other people, said provincial hospital chief Qasim Sangin. According to the Interior Ministry, it was a suicide bomber on a motorcycle. So far no one committed to the attack.
At least six people died in a second attack in central Kabul. More than ten were injured. It was investigated whether it was also a suicide attack or whether a bomb was attached to a motorcycle with a magnet.
Called for election boycott
The radical Islamic Taliban called for a boycott of Afghanistan’s presidential election in early August, while threatening to use force. The population should stay away from electoral events in order not to become a potential target, it said.
The presidential election is scheduled for September 28th. The first day of the election campaign had been overshadowed by a serious attack at the end of July. More than 20 people were killed in a car bomb attack on the vice presidential candidate Amrullah Saleh’s office in Kabul, the capital. Due to the poor security situation, the implementation of the election in many areas is also at risk.
Taliban ready to bargain with USA
The radical Islamic Taliban are ready to sign a recently-expired US agreement on pathways to peace in Afghanistan. Taliban Political Bureau Deputy Chief Sher Mohammad Abbas Staniksai said today to the BBC. „We are willing to sign the agreement with the US,“ Staniksai said. After signing, a truce with the US should also be proclaimed.
US President Donald Trump had surprisingly announced in early September, shortly before an expected US-Taliban agreement, that he had broken off further talks with the Taliban over a deadly attack in Kabul. The car bomb attack also killed a US soldier.
The US and the Taliban had spoken since July 2018 about a political solution to the 18-year conflict in Afghanistan. Both sides had until recently been confident that they would sign an agreement. A few days after the talks broke off, Trump declared the negotiations failed: „They’re dead.“
