KABUL, Afghanistan — At least 22 people were killed in northern Afghanistan late Saturday when a Taliban suicide bomber detonated a vehicle packed with explosives.
The bombing late Saturday, which killed mainly local militiamen, took place in the Khanabad district of Kunduz province at a gathering of the pro-government militia, also known as arbakis, police spokesman Sarwar Hussaini said.
The car was packed with homemade explosives and detonated near the gathering, said Hayatullah Amiri, the Khanabad district governor.
It was the latest in a series of deadly attacks across the country – three of which took place in the Afghan capital on Friday, killing scores of civilians and injuring hundreds of others.
The three bombings in Kabul killed a total of 49 people and wounded hundreds – the highest number of one-day civilian casualties and injuries since the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began systematically recording them in 2009.
An international soldier and eight Afghan contractors were killed in one of those attacks, which targeted a foreign forces base in Kabul late Friday, NATO said. Spokesman Sernando Estreooa said two militants were also killed in the attack at Camp Integrity on the outskirts of the capital.
The foreign service member’s nationality was not released by the NATO as a matter of policy, but the White House later confirmed that a U.S. soldier had been killed and others wounded.
The Afghan Interior Ministry said in a statement that four militants had attacked the coalition forces’ military base on the outskirts of Kabul with an explosives-packed car Friday night.
The ministry did not confirm the Afghan fatalities but said all four assailants were killed by security forces before they they could enter the base.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the base attack, which followed a Taliban suicide bombing outside the Afghan police academy in the capital that killed 25 cadets. Earlier Friday, 15 people were killed in a truck bomb attack in the capital.
The Taliban also claimed responsibility for the Kunduz attack, saying that target was “an important gathering of the anti-Taliban militiamen.”
In Kunduz, armed pro-government village militia forces under local strongmen are equipped and financed to fight the Taliban. But many analysts say they have exacerbated the conflict in some places.
Kunduz has become the most dangerous province for civilians this year, with 52 deaths and 162 injured reported from ground engagements in the first six months of 2015, according to a recent UN report.
