Officials: Roadside bombs in Afghanistan kill 3, wound 20

Separate roadside bomb explosions in Afghanistan, Sunday killed at least three including a child and wounded 20 others, said Afghan officials

Afghanistan (Copyright 2019 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)

Separate roadside bomb explosions in Afghanistan killed at least three people including a child and wounded 20 others on Sunday Afghan officials said.

Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said that a roadside bomb explosion targeted a police car, killing the driver and a nearby child as well as wounding five other civilians including children.

The majority of bomb attacks in the capital Kabul in recent months have been sticky bombs — explosive devices with magnets that are attached to vehicles and detonated by remote control or timer.

The second explosion was caused by a bomb placed in a crowded market in southern Helmand province, killing one civilian and wounding 15 others including two police, said provincial police spokesman, Mohammad Zaman Hamdard.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for any of the attacks. Afghan police officials says that an investigation were underway.

The Islamic State group’s local affiliate has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks, but many go unclaimed, with the government blaming the Taliban. The insurgents have denied responsibility for most of the attacks.

Afghanistan has seen a nationwide spike in bombings, targeted killings and violence on the battlefield as peace negotiations in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government have stalled. It’s been over a month since the sides last met to discuss how to proceed.