At least two dead in blasts in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad

JALALABAD: At least two people were killed and 19 others were wounded in separate explosions in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Saturday, according to a health official and local media.

The attacks, which targeted Taliban vehicles, are the first deadly blasts since the American withdrawal from Afghanistan.

An official from the health department of Nangarhar Province told AFP that three people were killed and 18 were wounded, while several local media reported the attacks left at least two dead and 19 injured.

Jalalabad is the capital of Nangarhar, the heartland of Afghanistan’s Islamic State group, which claimed responsibility for a bloody attack that killed more than 100 people at Kabul airport at the end of August.

The Taliban returned to power in mid-August after toppling the former government, and they have promised to restore peace and security to the country.

Pictures taken at the site of the blast showed a green pick-up truck with a white Taliban flag surrounded by debris as armed fighters looked on.