Afghanistan | Suicide bomber kills 12 in Kabul

Afghan security personnel arrives at the site of the suicide attack

A suicide bomber struck outside a government ministry in the Afghan capital yesterday, killing 12 people and wounding 31 days before the start of a holiday cease-fire with the Taliban.

Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai says a suicide bomber on foot struck outside the Rural Rehabilitation and Development Ministry as employees were leaving work. Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh confirmed the toll

No one immediately claimed the attack, but the Taliban and an Islamic State affiliate regularly strike government targets in the capital and elsewhere.

The Taliban have agreed to a cease-fire coinciding with the three-day Eid al-Fitr holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The holiday is set to begin later this week. The IS affiliate is not included in the cease-fire.

Elsewhere in Afghanistan, a roadside bomb struck a microbus in eastern the eastern Ghazni province yesterday, killing six people. Arif Noori, a spokesman for the governor of the Ghazni province, said women and children were among those killed in the blast, which also wounded three people.

He said the bomb was planted by the Taliban. The insurgents mostly target security forces and government officials, but their roadside bombs often kill civilians.

Elsewhere in Ghazni, at least three local police and 10 Taliban fighters were killed in clashes, Noori said.

In the northern Kunduz province, the Taliban attacked a joint army and police checkpoint, killing at least 15 Afghan security forces, said Mohammad Yusouf Ayubi, head of the provincial council.

In the eastern Nangarhar province, a suicide bomber wounded at least 10 civilians when he struck near the education department in the provincial capital of Jalalabad, said Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor.

He said three other suicide bombers were shot and killed by security forces as they tried to enter the building. He said a vehicle filled with explosives was found near the scene of the attack.

In a separate attack in the same province, a sticky bomb wounded 14 civilians in the Chaparhar district, according to hospital spokesman Inamullah Miakhail. Gen. Ghulam Sanayee Stanekzai, provincial police chief in Nangarhar, said the bomb went off as people were shopping in a market.

No one claimed either attack. Both the Taliban and IS are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially Nangarhar. AP