A string of attacks on Tuesday in Afghanistan killed five government employees and four policemen, officials said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks.
In the capital, Kabul, gunmen opened fire in the Bagh-e Daud neighborhood and killed four employees of the ministry for rural development, according to Ferdaws Faramarz, spokesman for the city's police chief.
Hours after the attack, the presidential palace in a statement said the target was Reyaz Ahmad Khalil, the acting provincial director of the department for rural development of Maidan Wardak province. He was among the fatalities in the attack.
Afghan security personnel inspect the site of a deadly bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. A string of attacks on Tuesday in Afghanistan killed several government employees and several policemen. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. (AP PhotoRahmat Gul)
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack and accused the Taliban of stalling peace talks by once again escalating the violence. “They have show that they don’t believe in peace,” Ghani said.
Elsewhere in Kabul, a sticky bomb attached to a car exploded, killing another government employee, Faramarz later said. According to the foreign ministry, it was their car and one of the ministry's drivers was killed in that attack in the Macrorayan neighborhood.
Also Tuesday, four police officers were killed and a fifth was wounded when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb in western Herat province's Zenda Jan district, said Wahid Qatali, the provincial governor.
Afghan security personnel inspect the site of a deadly bomb attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, Tuesday, Feb. 9, 2021. A string of attacks on Tuesday in Afghanistan killed several government employees and several policemen. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks. (AP PhotoRahmat Gul)
At least 21 Taliban insurgents, including three key members of the group, were killed in a special operation conducted by Afghan security forces in northern Faryab province, the Ministry of Defense said. The statement added that another 18 Taliban fighters were wounded in the districts of Almar and Qaisar in Faryab.
The Taliban did not comment on the ministry's statement.
Violence in Afghanistan has been relentless while peace talks between the Taliban and government representatives that have been underway in Qatar for months have now stalled. There has also been a nationwide spike in bombings, targeted killings and violence on the battlefield.
Najia Anwari, spokeswoman for the state ministry for peace, said Tuesday that several members of the government negotiating team have temporarily returned from Qatar, for personal issues. She did not elaborate.
The Islamic State group has also increased its attacks in Kabul lately. Most recently, it claimed responsibility for the bombing targeting minority Sikhs on Saturday in the Afghan capital. Two members of the Sikh community were killed in the blast, which struck a store in central Kabul.
With growing threats from IS, Afghanistan’s once-thriving community of Sikhs and Hindus has dwindled from as many as 250,000 members to fewer than 700. Last March, a lone IS gunman rampaged through a Sikh house of worship in the heart of Kabul, killing 25 worshippers and wounding eight.
MANADO, Indonesia (AP) — Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano spewed more hot clouds on Wednesday after an eruption the previous day forced the closure of schools and airports, pelted villages with volcanic debris and prompted hundreds of people to flee.
Seven airports, including Sam Ratulangi international airport in Manado, the capital of North Sulawesi province, remained closed after Tuesday's eruption, the second in two weeks. Schools were shut to protect children from volcanic ash.
The volcano is on tiny Ruang Island, part of the Sitaro islands chain.
The Indonesian geological agency urged people to stay at least 7 kilometers (4 miles) from the volcano’s crater. It warned people on nearby Tagulandang Island, the closest to the volcano, of possible super-heated volcanic clouds from a further eruption and a tsunami if the mountain's volcanic dome collapses into the sea.
Video released by the National Search and Rescue Agency showed about a hundred villagers from Tagulandang Island being evacuated on a navy ship. Hundreds of others were waiting at a local port to be evacuated.
Agency spokesperson Abdul Muhari said 11,000 to 12,000 people living within a 7-kilometer danger zone would be taken to government shelters.
Tuesday’s eruption darkened the sky and peppered several villages with ash, grit and rocks. No casualties were reported.
After Mount Ruang's April 17 eruption, authorities warned that a subsequent eruption might collapse part of the volcano into the sea.
Ruang is among about 130 active volcanoes in Indonesia. The archipelagic nation is prone to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes because of its location on the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a series of fault lines stretching from the western coast of the Americas through Japan and Southeast Asia.
In this photo released by the Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Ruang releases volcanic materials during its eruption on Wednesday, May 1, 2024, on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost 2 kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris. (PVMBG via AP Photo)
In this photo provided by the Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency (BASARNAS), residents of Tagulandang island sit on a ship of National Search and Rescue Agency to evacuate after Mount Ruang releases volcanic materials in Sulawesi island, Indonesia, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost 2 kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris.(Indonesian National Search and Rescue Agency via AP)
In this photo released by the Vulcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation Center (PVMBG) of the Indonesian Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, Mount Ruang releases volcanic materials during its eruption, Tuesday, April 30, 2024, on Sulawesi Island, Indonesia. Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost 2 kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris. (PVMBG via AP Photo)
Mount Ruang volcano is seen during the eruption from Tagulandang island, Indonesia, Wednesday, Wednesday, May 1, 2024. Indonesia's Mount Ruang volcano erupted Tuesday for a second time in two weeks, spewing ash almost 2 kilometers (more than a mile) into the sky, closing an airport and peppering nearby villages with debris.(AP Photo/ Hendra Ambalao)
