Afghanistan: Suicide bomber strikes near airport in Jalalabad

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Afghanistan: Suicide bomber strikes near airport in Jalalabad

9:51 CAT | 06 Mar 2019

The attack began with a suicide bomber, who detonated his explosives at the gate of the company [Mohammad Anwar Danishyar/AP]

A suicide bomber in Afghanistan attacked on Wednesday in the country’s eastern city of Jalalabad, an official said, killing at least four people.

The attacker, who was on foot, detonated his explosives near the office of a construction company near the city’s airport, said Attaullah Khogyani, a spokesperson for the governor of Nangarhar province, of which Jalalabad is the capital.

The province’s police chief, General Ghulam Sanayee Stanikzai said several other attackers then stormed inside the company where a gun battle is under way now. He says the casualty toll could rise further.

Stanikzai also says that US forces have arrived at the scene.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

The bombings come as US and Taliban negotiations continue to hold ongoing peace talks in Qatar aimed at ending the nearly 18-year conflict.

Despite a two-day break before the weekend, negotiations continue on “a daily basis right now and progress is being made”, US State Department spokesman Robert Palladino told journalists on Tuesday.

“These discussions are ongoing and what we’re focusing on are the four interconnected issues that are going to compose any future agreement,” Palladino said – listing them as terrorism, troop withdrawal, intra-Afghan dialogue and ceasefire.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said during an exchange with high school students in Iowa he hoped sufficient gains would be made for him to be able to take a trip to help advance the negotiations “in a couple weeks”.

The continuation of the talks follows a major attack on a joint US-Afghan base in southwestern Afghanistan’s Helmand province last week, with at least 23 security forces killed in the hours-long assault on one of the largest military installations in the country.

Heavy snowfall across large swaths of Afghanistan has led to a sharp reduction in violence this winter, but warmer weather in the country’s south will likely spark an increase in bloodshed with the arrival of the spring fighting season.

Analysts have warned that the Taliban are likely to ramp up attacks in the coming months as they seek to maintain momentum on the battlefield and leverage at the negotiating table.

President Donald Trump has repeatedly voiced his eagerness to end America’s involvement in Afghanistan, where 14,000 US troops are still deployed.

Afghanistan has been enmeshed in nearly constant conflict since the Soviet invasion of 1979, which was followed by civil war, the Taliban rule, and the US invasion in late 2001.

Source: Al Jazeera