Deadliest weekend in years in Afghanistan

An apparent suicide car bombing at a busy roundabout near the entrance to Kabul's international airport on Monday killed at least four people and wounded another 15, officials said.

A huge plume of black smoke rose above the city after the midday explosion, as police, soldiers and ambulances rushed to the site, which is usually thronging with pedestrians and vehicles.

Afghanistan has been rocked by a series of attacks in recent days that have killed scores of people and wounded hundreds.

On Saturday evening, a Taliban attack killed up to 29 people in the Khanabad district of Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan. The Afghan interior ministry said all those killed were civilians, although local officials called them anti-Taliban militiamen. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which came after a barrage of bombings in Kabul killed at least 51 people on Friday, the deadliest day for the capital in years.

The latest violence comes after the Afghan intelligence service said the Taliban's long-time leader Mullah Mohammad Omar had been dead for more than two years. The disclosure of his death, later confirmed by the Taliban, triggered an internal succession dispute and raised questions about the future direction of the insurgency. The wave of violence also underscores Afghanistan's volatile security situation amid a faltering peace process.    (AP/AFP)

Visit Qantara.de's dossier on Afghanistan