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A spokesperson for the public protection force was one of the three killed in the attack.
A roadside bomb exploded in the Afghan capital, killing at least three people in a vehicle on Sunday, the latest attack to come even as government negotiators are in Qatar to resume peace talks with the Taliban.
Home Secretary Tariq Arian said a spokesperson for the ministry’s public protection force was one of three killed in the attack.
Zia Wadan was spokesperson for the National Force for Public Protection, a security service under the Interior Ministry that deploys guards to international organizations across Afghanistan.
Wadan and his colleagues were killed in morning rush hour traffic in the east of the capital, Interior Ministry spokesman Arian told reporters.
“A vehicle carrying Zia Wadan was targeted with an IED [improvised explosive device] … As a result, Wadan and two of his colleagues were killed, ”Arian said, adding that another person was injured.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.
Deadly violence has exploded across the country in recent months, and a new trend of targeted assassinations has spread fear, especially in Kabul.
Prominent figures, including journalists, politicians and human rights activists, are increasingly targeted despite peace talks between the government and the Taliban.
Since November, five journalists have been killed in targeted assassinations along with several other prominent figures.
The armed group EIIL (EIIL) has claimed responsibility for multiple attacks in the capital in recent months, including against educational institutions that have killed 50 people, most of them students. ISIL also claimed responsibility for rocket attacks in December targeting the main US base in Afghanistan. There were no casualties.
The Taliban, meanwhile, continued their fight against government forces while keeping their promise not to attack US and NATO troops.
Qatar talks resume
Sunday’s attack comes as Afghan negotiators have resumed negotiations with the Taliban to end decades of relentless conflict. Frustration and fear have grown following a surge in violence that pushes fighters on both sides to blame the other.
Stop-and-go talks between the Taliban and the government come amid growing doubt over a US-Taliban peace deal brokered by the administration of outgoing President Donald Trump. An accelerated U.S. troop withdrawal ordered by Trump means only 2,500 U.S. troops will still be in Afghanistan when President-elect Joe Biden takes office this month.
Biden argued for maintaining a small intelligence-based presence in Afghanistan, but the Taliban leadership flatly rejected all foreign troops.
Afghan security personnel remove damaged vehicle after bombing in Kabul, Afghanistan [Rahmat Gul/AP]
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