The Afghan Ministry of Defense announced this morning, Thursday, that 9 soldiers were killed in a plane crash, while others were killed and injured in a bombing of a government bus in the capital, Kabul.
The Defense Ministry said 9 security forces were killed in a helicopter crash in central Afghanistan late on Wednesday.
It added that it is investigating the crash that occurred in the province of Maidan Wardak, and that the dead were members of the plane's crew and special forces.
An Air Force source and a regional official told Reuters the plane had been hit by a missile while taking off.
In a related context, Afghan officials said that 3 people were killed, while 11 people were injured when a roadside bomb on a bus carrying government employees exploded in the capital, Kabul, today, Thursday.
A spokesman for the Kabul police confirmed the number of victims, but did not provide further details.
Another official said the bus was carrying government employees.
Political efforts
The bombing comes on the day when the Afghan government, the Taliban and important countries - including the United States and Russia - meet in Moscow to press for a reduction in violence and advance the Afghan peace process.
The Al-Jazeera correspondent in Washington quoted a US official in Afghanistan as saying that the air strikes launched by US fighters against the Taliban in the Kandahar region on Wednesday are consistent with the Doha agreement.
Although US President Joe Biden said that his country is still studying the issue of withdrawing from Afghanistan, he sees the difficulty of achieving this on May 1.
On the other hand, the Taliban spokesman called on the United States to withdraw at the time stipulated in the Doha agreement, believing that the commitment to implement it is a solution to all problems.
It is expected that a meeting will be held in Moscow on Afghanistan with the participation of various Afghan forces sponsored by the expanded "troika" that includes Russia, America and China as well as Pakistan.