Afghanistan: explosions in Jalalabad and Kabul cause several deaths

No one claimed responsibility for the series of explosions that killed at least seven people.

Taliban sources told Al Jazeera that at least 7 people were killed and about 30 were injured in a series of bombings in the eastern city of Jalalabad in Afghanistan and the country’s capital Kabul.

Sources said the casualties occurred when the improvised explosive device exploded on Saturday.

“The bombings in Jalalabad and Kabul appear to be the product of ISIL-K remnants,” said a Taliban source, referring to the Islamic State armed group in Khorasan province, also known as ISKP (ISIS-K ). The senior source added that the Taliban has launched an investigation into the attack and that “the perpetrators will be brought to justice.”

News organizations quoted eyewitnesses and security sources as saying that at least four explosions occurred in the capital of Nangarhar on Saturday, causing deaths.

“Many people involved in the incident in Jalalabad today have been arrested and the investigation is ongoing. The results of the investigation will be officially announced later.”

So far, no one has claimed responsibility. Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar Province in the heart of ISKP.

People outside the Nangarhar area specialist hospital after the explosion [AFP]

Photographs taken at the Jalalabad explosion site showed that a green pickup truck with a white Taliban flag was surrounded by wreckage and armed men watched from the side.

“During an attack, a Taliban vehicle patrolling Jalalabad was targeted,” a Taliban official who asked not to be named told AFP.

“Among the wounded are women and children,” he said.

According to reports, a car bomb exploded before noon in the Dasht-e-Barchi community of Kabul, and at least two people were injured.

The Taliban came to power in mid-August and overthrew the government after the international forces headed by the United States had withdrawn from Afghanistan. The organization has pledged to restore the security of a country ravaged by violence.

The chaotic evacuation of foreigners and Afghans working for international forces led by the United States was disrupted by what ISKP claimed was a devastating bomb attack that killed dozens of people.