Suicide bomber targets protest camp in eastern Afghanistan

At least three people have been killed after a militant detonated a bomb vest in eastern Afghanistan.

2 min read

25 August, 2018

Jalalabad has seen a number of demonstrations in recent years (AFP-file photo)

A suicide bomber has targeted a protest camp outside an election office in eastern Afghanistan, with at least three people killed in Saturday's attack.

The militant targeted a protesters who had gathered outside an election commission office in the eastern city of Jalalabad, as violence in the war-torn country continues to escalate.

"It killed two people, and four others were wounded," provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP.

He said protesters were warned beforehand that an attack could take place.

"We had requested the protesters to stop their demonstrations because they could be targeted by militants but they rejected our security message," Reuters reported him saying, putting the death toll at three.

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the electoral commission building in the eastern city, after a candidate was disqualified over alleged links to armed groups.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Taliban and Islamic State group have targeted government infrastructure and workers.

Earlier this month, another protest camp was targeted by militants who had gathered outside an election office building in the capital, Kabul.

President Ashraf Ghani has offered a conditional three-month ceasefire to the Taliban, although the militant group are yet to respond to the offer.

The Taliban is said to be nominally open to a peaceful end to conflict, and is due to attend talks in Russia in a new bid to end fighting that has raged since the 2001 US-led invasion of Afghanistan.