At least three killed in Taliban attack on police base

At least three police officers were killed and a dozen more wounded Saturday when a Taliban suicide bomber drove an explosives-packed, US-made armoured vehicle into a compound in eastern Afghanistan, officials said.

The pre-dawn blast took place as violence rages across Afghanistan, even though the US is leading a push for a peace deal with the Taliban, with a new round of talks expected in the coming days.

According to Aref Noori, the spokesman for Ghazni province, Saturday’s attack targeted the police headquarters compound in Ghazni’s Ab Band district.

“A Humvee vehicle was driven into the compound and blown up. Three police officers have been killed and 12 wounded,” he told AFP, adding the vehicle had been captured from Afghan forces.

Ahmad Khan Sirat, the provincial police spokesman, told AFP the police headquarters building had also been partially damaged in the attack, which was claimed by the Taliban.

The attack came hours after another Taliban assault in Ghazni province late on Friday, this time in Khogyani district, which left at least three security forces dead including the district police chief, Noori said.

The Taliban have increased their attacks across the country at the peak of their “fighting season”. The US, too, has stepped up air strikes this year.

On Thursday, a series of bombings in the capital Kabul claimed by the Taliban and the Islamic State group’s Afghanistan branch killed at least 10 people and wounded scores more.

The bombings come as Zalmay Khalilzad, the US special envoy for peace in Afghanistan, is expected to resume a new round of talks with the Taliban in Doha.