Nine killed in car bomb targeting Afghan MP

KABUL: A car bomb targeting an Afghan lawmaker killed nine people and wounded more than a dozen in Kabul on Sunday, officials said, the latest attack to rock the capital.

Kabul has been hit by a wave of deadly violence in recent months despite the Taliban and government engaging in peace talks to end the country´s long conflict. Sunday´s bombing targeted parliamentarian Khan Mohammad Wardak who was injured in the attack, officials said. "Nine people were killed and 20 others were wounded in the car bomb," Interior Minister Masoud Andrabi told reporters, adding that all the casualties were civilians. The ministry said in a separate statement that women and children were among those wounded by the "terrorist attack". A security source said the car bomb detonated in the west of the capital. "It was a powerful explosion that has caused a lot of damage to houses in the vicinity," the source said.

Television footage showed at least two cars on fire, with plumes of thick black smoke billowing into the sky. An aide to lawmaker Wardak said the attack occurred when he was travelling in his convoy, and five of his bodyguards were among the wounded. "The enemies of Afghanistan carried out a terrorist attack on Khan Mohammad Wardak," President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement condemning the bombing. "Terrorist attacks on civilian targets and facilities will endanger the opportunity for peace," he added.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamic State militant group has claimed responsibility for some of the recent attacks in Kabul. Dozens of people, mostly students, were killed when IS militants attacked two education centres, including one at Kabul University that saw gunmen open fire on classrooms. The group has also claimed a series of recent rocket attacks in and around the capital. Kabul has seen a spate of targeted assassinations of prominent figures in recent months, including top officials, journalists, clerics, politicians and rights activists.