A security source reported to Al-Jazeera that there were deaths and injuries in the explosion of an explosive device today in Lashkargah, capital of Helmand Province (southern Afghanistan), while the Afghan government and the Taliban exchanged accusations about the recent escalation of attacks.
The Afghan "Taloo News" channel reported, according to medical officials, that one person was killed and 14 others were injured in an explosion targeting a car in the city of Lashkargah.
Local officials in Lashkargah did not give further details about the accident, and no one has claimed responsibility for the explosion.
On Saturday, a series of attacks targeted the capital, Kabul, killing 5 people, and wounding two, in detonating an explosive device in a police car, as well as two other explosions.
Al-Jazeera correspondent in Kabul, Maan al-Khader, quoted local media outlets as saying that the Afghan capital alone witnessed 66 attacks in the last month alone, 40 of which were with an explosive device, i.e. an average of two attacks per day.
The country is witnessing an escalation of violence in the recent period, in light of the stalled peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban movement in order to reach a permanent ceasefire agreement and discuss the political future of the country.
A criticism of the Taliban
In this context, the Afghan National Security Council said that the Taliban "has become addicted to war, and the Afghan government does not want to spill a single drop of blood in the country." The council added that the failure to consult the government during the negotiations of the Doha Agreement between the Taliban and Washington affected the peace process.
For his part, the head of the Reconciliation Committee in Afghanistan Abdullah Abdullah said that he hopes that the second round of peace negotiations will resume soon, and that a ceasefire is the basic demand of the Afghan people.
On the other hand, the Taliban's political office said earlier that the Afghan government is responsible for some of the recent attacks in the country, and the spokesman for the movement’s political office added - in an interview with Al-Jazeera - that the goal is for the survival of foreign forces, accusing the Afghan government of having an interest in that. .
The US State Department spokesman Ned Price said in a statement that his country is reviewing its strategy in Afghanistan, and added that Secretary of State Anthony Blinken had contacted the head of the Afghanistan Reconciliation Committee in this regard, and Secretary Blinken stressed America's determination to support a just and lasting political solution and a permanent ceasefire. And comprehensive in Afghanistan.