Afghan official: Taliban suicide bomber kills at least 13

KABUL – A suicide bomber targeting a police commander killed at least 13 people on Monday, including nine civilians, in Afghanistan’s northern Parwan province, an official said.

The attack happened near a clinic and a bazaar, said Gen. Zaman Mamozai, the provincial police chief. Four local police were among those killed, and another 19 people, including 17 civilians, were wounded, he said. The police commander who was targeted in the attack was among those wounded.

“Once again, a Taliban suicide bomber attacked innocent civilians,” Mamozai said, adding that the bazaar was packed with shoppers and that people were waiting outside the clinic for treatment.

The Taliban claimed responsibility in an email sent to media.

The U.N.’s mission in Afghanistan reported earlier this month that most of the 11,000 civilians killed and wounded in 2015 were the victims of insurgent attacks. A total of 3,545 civilians were killed last year as a result of the war, the U.N. report said, with another 7,457 wounded.

The figures mark a 4 per cent drop in civilian deaths from the previous year, but a 9 per cent rise in civilians wounded. Taliban insurgents regularly target Afghan security forces, often killing civilians in the process.