KABUL, Afghanistan
At least two people were killed and 51 others were injured in a suspected suicide car bomb attack in Afghanistan`s southern Helmand province on Tuesday morning, authorities said.
The blast took place near the provincial police headquarters in Lashkargah, the provincial capital of restive Helmand, where the offices of the provincial governor and the police headquarters are located, Omar Zawak, spokesman for the provincial governor, said.
Tens of soldiers guard the fortified area round the clock that is also protected by concrete walls.
“A woman and a man were killed while 51 others included two policemen were injured,” Zawak said.
He added that some of the injured were in serious condition. “Some houses of civilians near the police headquarters were also partially damaged,” he said.
Following the suicide attack, security forces engaged with three suspected militants in a nearby building, killing one of them, the spokesman added.
Separately, a bomb attached to an Afghan national army vehicle exploded in the capital Kabul on Tuesday morning that injured two children, an Afghan security official said.
Despite informal talks between Afghan government representatives and the Taliban in Norway, Qatar and Dubai, the fighting in Afghanistan has escalated following the launch of the Taliban’s so called “spring offensive” in April.
Afghan security forces assumed the responsibility for security from NATO-led international security forces at the end of 2014.
U.S.-led international forces ended combat missions in December last year. However, nearly 13,000 international troops remain in an advisory capacity.
