Tragic series. For the third day in a row, dozens of Afghans were killed Thursday (September 19th). The explosion of a truck bomb near a hospital killed 20 people, while at least nine civilians died in a drone strike targeting Islamist fighters.

The truck attack took place in Qalat, in the south of the country, and was targeted at the local Afghan intelligence headquarters (NDS), according to Zabul governor Rahmatullah Yarmal. "But the regional hospital in the same place has been destroyed," he added.

The Qalat bombing "caused the death of 20 people and wounded 90," said Zabul provincial deputy governor Ahmad Tawab. "It was a truck bomb attack."

The attack was claimed by a Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi: "We have carried out a martyred attack on the NDS," he said in a message, saying the building had been completely destroyed.

This new attack takes place within 10 days of the presidential election, the total toll of the violence being more than 70 dead and dozens wounded. Three of them were claimed by the Taliban, who multiply attacks to block the polls.

More than 70 deaths in three days

Meanwhile, at least nine farm workers were killed in the province of Nangarhar, in the east of the country, by drone fire. The strike "was supposed to target Daesh fighters, but hit civilians by mistake," police spokesman for the province, Mubarez Atal, said.

Contacted by AFP, the Afghan Ministry of Defense declined to comment on the information, saying it was investigating. The air strikes in Afghanistan can only be done by Afghan and American armies.

The Taliban "again showed that their fight was against the people of Afghanistan and that they had no job but to kill people and destroy public infrastructure," said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani. in a statement.

On Tuesday, 48 people died in two suicide bombings, one against an election rally of Ashraf Ghani and the other in Kabul, which targeted an army recruiting center. On Wednesday, four civilians were killed in a suicide bombing and assault on an official building in Jalalabad, in the east of the country.

The Afghans must elect on September 28 their future president. The Taliban dispute the legitimacy of the ballot, which has taken on a new importance since Donald Trump gave up on Sept. 7 talks of a withdrawal of US forces in exchange for insurgent counterparts.

With AFP