KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says a suicide bomber has struck a funeral for the victims of an earlier Taliban attack, killing 16 and wounding 39 in eastern Laghman province.
The local governor’s spokesman, Sarhadi Zwak, says the bomber detonated his explosives and blew himself up among mourners gathered for the funeral on Thursday in the provincial capital of Mihtarlam.
The funeral was for a police commander and three other people killed earlier in the day in a roadside bombing. Officials said the Taliban were behind that attack.
Zwak says police investigations chief Khlil Nyazi was among the 16 killed at the funeral, along with three other police officers. Three policemen were also among the 39 wounded.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing.
THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.
A spate of Taliban attacks across Afghanistan overnight and on Thursday morning killed at least 17 people, officials said, the latest violence that comes as insurgents increasingly target local police and Afghan forces after most foreign combat troops withdrew at the end of last month.
The deadliest of the attacks took place late Wednesday in the central Ghazni province, where Taliban insurgents attacked a checkpoint in Andar district, killing 11 members of a pro-government militia that was manning the post and wounding six.
As the militia fought back, six insurgents were killed and seven were wounded, according to Mohammad Ali Ahmadi, deputy governor in central Ghazni province.
The province’s deputy police chief, Asadullha Ensafi, said the insurgents had inside information from one of their own who had managed to infiltrate the volunteer militia last year.
In a message, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the attack on the checkpoint.
On Thursday morning, a roadside bomb killed four people, including a policeman, in eastern Laghman province, said spokesman Sarhadi Zwak. The bombing, for which he blamed the Taliban, took place in the provincial capital of Mihtarlam.
And in the district of Sayed Abad in Wardak province east of the capital, Kabul, Taliban fighters ragged two villagers from their home and killed them, according to spokesman Attaullha Khugyani.
Suicide bomb at Afghan funeral for Taliban victims kills 16
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