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Relief services are transferring a wounded man after a bomb blast on a bus in a hospital in Hera on July 31, 2019. HOSHANG HASHIMI / AFP

An explosion blew Wednesday morning, July 31, in western Afghanistan, when a bus jumped on a bomb. At least 28 people, " mostly women and children, " were killed. An attack attributed by the authorities to the Taliban and whose balance sheet could increase.

It is " this morning around 6 am (local time, 1:30 UT), (that) a bus traveling between Kandahar and Herat jumped on a roadside bomb by the Taliban " , said the spokesman of the police of Farah province, Muhibullah Muhib this Wednesday, July 31. An attack was allegedly aimed at the security forces, according to the authorities.

Sediq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Afghan presidency, meanwhile put forward a heavier balance sheet of more than 34 victims and also blamed the attack on the armed group .

The Taliban have not made any comment in the immediate future.

Civilians pay the brunt of the conflict

Civilians in the country have been paying a heavy toll for nearly 18 years and the US invasion of Afghanistan. In a report released Tuesday (July 30th), the United Nations regretted that civilians continue to die and be injured at an " unacceptable " rate. This is despite talks between the Taliban, Washington and Kabul to end decades of war.

The various incidents are multiplying in Afghanistan while the presidential campaign is in full swing. Sunday, July 28, an attack takes place on the office of Amrullah Saleh , running of President Ashraf Ghani , presidential candidate of September 28 . At least 20 people were killed and 50 others wounded in the Kabul incident.

There has been a 27% decrease in the number of casualties in the first half of 2019 compared to the first six months of 2018. However, 1,366 civilians were killed this year and 2,446 were injured, the Mission said. UN in Afghanistan (Manua) in a semi-annual report . A third of these victims are children, 327 dead and 880 injured.

The United States has been engaged since 2018 in an unprecedented direct dialogue with the Taliban in the hope of finding a peace agreement. Washington seems determined to speed up these peace talks, as the Afghan presidential election approaches and the White House race in 2020.

With AFP