6 people killed in Taliban-planted mine blast in Afghanistan’s Kunduz: Official
Six people have been killed in a landmine explosion linked to the Taliban in Afghanistan’s northern province of Kunduz, still one of the country’s most volatile regions where the militants have cemented presence in several districts.
The deadly incident occurred in the Ramazani area of Ali Abad district on Saturday, when the blast hit a tractor-trolley transporting civilians, said Hijratullah Akbari, a spokesman for the provincial police force, Turkey's official Anadolu news agency reported.
The Taliban have not commented on the incident.
Since September 12, representatives of the central government in Kabul and those of the Taliban have been engaged in peace talks in the Qatari capital of Doha, following months of delay over a contentious prisoner swap between the two sides.
Earlier this month, Taliban spokesman Mohammad Naeem claimed the group had decreased the level of violence with the start of the first round of intra-Afghan talks.
The official data, however, says bombings and other assaults by the Taliban have increased by 70 percent since the militant group signed the February deal.
The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission recently revealed that at least 19 civilians had been killed and 45 more wounded in 11 rounds of clashes between the Taliban and government troops on September 12-19.
The escalation in Taliban attacks continues despite President Ashraf Ghani’s frequent calls for a comprehensive and lasting truce.
“The Afghan people have a clear and urgent priority: a ceasefire. An urgent end to the violence will, more than anything else, give us a chance to progress,” he said in his address to the 75th UN General Assembly on Thursday.
The ongoing peace talks come following a deal between the Taliban and the United States signed in February.
Under the deal with Washington, the Taliban agreed to halt their attacks on US-led foreign forces in return for the US pullout of its troops from Afghanistan and a prisoner swap with the government.
The central government in Kabul was a party neither to the negotiations nor to the deal, but it has been acting in accordance with its terms, including by agreeing to free the Taliban prisoners.
In all, Kabul released 5,000 prisoners demanded by the Taliban.
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