Car Bombing Targeting Police In Afghanistan Kills At Least 20

A car bombing outside a police station in central Afghanistan has killed at least 20 people, according to the Interior Ministry.

Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said a car laden with explosives detonated outside a police station in Firoz Koh, the capital of Ghor Province, around 11 a.m. on October 18.

Arian, who did not provide further details, described the incident as a “terrorist attack.”

Ghor police spokesman Abdul Maaref Ramesh said the blast caused heavy civilian casualties.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, although similar incidents in the past have been blamed on the Taliban.

Ghor, a mountainous and remote province in Afghanistan’s central highlands, is one of the most impoverished and unstable areas of the country. The provincial government’s power extends little beyond Firoz Koh.

The bomb blast comes as Taliban and Afghan government negotiators are meeting in the Qatari capital, Doha, to negotiate an end to 19 years of war in the country.

The Taliban has refused a nationwide cease-fire despite the ongoing peace talks, which kicked off on September 12.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan has documented more than 1,280 Afghan civilian deaths during the first half of 2020 — mainly as a result of fighting between Afghan government forces and Taliban militants.