Taliban car bombing at Afghan bank kills 34
Print Edition
AT least 34 people were killed yesterday when a Taliban car bomb struck a bank in Afghanistan’s Lashkar Gah city as people were queueing to withdraw salaries, the latest bloody attack during the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
Dozens of wounded people were rushed to hospital on makeshift stretchers after the bombing at New Kabul Bank which upturned vehicles, left the area littered with charred debris, and sent a plume of smoke into the sky.
The attack comes as the Taliban ramp up their nationwide spring offensive despite government calls for a ceasefire during Ramadan and as the US appears set to boost its troop presence in the country.
The bomb tore through a queue of civilians and government employees who had lined up outside the bank to collect their salaries ahead of the Eid holidays marking the end of Ramadan.
“At least 34 people were killed and 58 others wounded in today’s bombing,” the provincial government said in a statement.
This was the third attack on this bank since 2014, with the Taliban claiming their target was Afghan soldiers and police on their way to draw salaries. But the government said most of the victims were civilians, including women and children.
For years Helmand province, of which Lashkar Gah is the capital, was the centerpiece of the Western military intervention in Afghanistan, but it has recently slipped deeper into a quagmire of instability.
The Taliban effectively control or contest 10 of the 14 districts in Helmand. The desert province is blighted by a huge opium harvest that helps fund the insurgency, and the Taliban have repeatedly threatened to seize Lashkar Gah. Intense fighting last year forced thousands of people to flee to Lashkar Gah from neighboring districts.
Since they launched their spring offensive in late April, the Taliban have been mounting lethal assaults on the Afghan army and police outposts in Helmand.
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