Citing public health department in Afghanistan’s central province of Ghazni, CNN said on Sunday that a car bomb attack in the province killed at least 40 Afghan soldiers and wounded 24, Ghazni public health department told CNN on Sunday.
An attacker reportedly detonated an explosive packed vehicle in front of a security base in the Deh Yak district of the province.
According to a statement from the Afghan Ministry of Defense, the attacker was confronted by security forces as he tried to enter the base. No group has claimed responsibility yet.
The blast targeted a compound of the public protection force, a wing of the Afghan security forces, local officials told Reuters. It damaged civilian residences around the compound, and there could be more casualties from there, they said.
Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian confirmed that there had been a car bomb blast but did not provide further information on the target or possible casualties.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, when contacted by Reuters, did not confirm or deny responsibility.
Afghanistan has seen a spate of car bombings over the last few months, despite peace talks being under way between negotiation teams of the Taliban movement and the government in the Qatari capital of Doha.
CNN says another bombing on Sunday, in the eastern province of Zabul, targeting a top provincial official, killed at least one person and injured 23.
Haji Ata Jan Haqbayan, head of the provincial council of Zabul, suffered minor injuries in the attack on his convoy, Gul Islam Syaal, the spokesman for the province's governor, told CNN.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack on Haqbayan.
