10 killed in attack targeting Afghan leader

KABUL, Afghanistan－A roadside bombing in the Afghan capital on Wednesday targeted the convoy of the country's first vice-president, killing 10 people and wounding more than a dozen others, including several of the leader's bodyguards, the Interior Ministry said.

First Vice-President Amrullah Saleh suffered minor burns in the blast. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing and the Taliban quickly denied they were behind the attack.

Saleh, who is also Afghanistan's former intelligence chief, said in his first television appearance immediately after the attack that he was fine and had sustained only slight burns. He appeared in the TV footage with bandages on one hand.

"Me and my younger son who was also with me are fine," Saleh said in the footage.

"I have slight burns on my face and hand from the wave of the blast. I don't have exact details right now, but I apologize to those who suffered casualties and those who lost their property in the attack."

His spokesman, Razwan Murad, called the attack a "vicious terrorist attempt" on Saleh's life. The roads in the vicinity of the bombing were closed off.

The Interior Ministry said the bomb went off as Saleh's convoy was passing through a section of Kabul with shops that sell gas cylinders for use in heating homes and cooking. The blast ignited a fire that set ablaze a number of the shops.

The explosion left behind a scene of destruction－at least 10 shops were smoldering in the aftermath of the explosion that had also shattered windows of dozens of nearby homes, some with doors hanging off their hinges. Cars were wrecked and debris was scattered around.

Peace efforts

The Interior Ministry's spokesman, Tariq Arian, confirmed earlier that the bombing targeted Saleh's convoy. Initially, Arian said at least two civilians died but the death toll later rose to 10. The ministry said at least 15 people were wounded.

The explosion came as peace efforts have been underway with the Taliban. The group's spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed was quick to deny the insurgents were involved in any way, saying that "today's explosion in Kabul has nothing to do with the Mujahedeen of the Islamic Emirate", as the Taliban call themselves.

Both the insurgents and the Islamic State terror group are active in Kabul where tensions are also high ahead of the expected start of negotiations between an official Afghan delegation and the Taliban.

The United States has been ramping up pressure on both sides to get the talks underway. The US special envoy, Zalmay Khalilzad, is in Qatar, where the Taliban maintain a political office, trying to get the negotiations started.

The negotiations, known as intra-Afghan talks, were envisaged as part of a peace deal Washington signed with the Taliban in Qatar in February to end the US' longest war. At the time, the talks were cast as a chance for peace after decades of conflict in Afghanistan.

Kabul's peace negotiation team is waiting in Kabul to travel to the Qatari capital of Doha for the talks but delays have been relentless. In recent days, Washington, officials in Kabul and the Taliban have all indicated that they could get under way imminently.

Agencies - Xinhua