Taliban-claimed attacks kill more than 40 people in Afghanistan

At least 38 people were killed and another 80 wounded when two bombs exploded outside the Afghan parliament building in Kabul. Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi tweeted that one of the targets was a bus carrying civilians.

Mohibullah Zeer, an official in the public health ministry, said another 72 people were wounded in the attack.

The report, published on Thursday, said 33 civilians were killed and 27 wounded last November when a US and Afghan special forces unit returned fire against Taliban fighters in the village of Boz, near Kunduz, and called in air support.

The country’s top spy agency National Directorate of Security (NDS) was the target of this attack.

Meanwhile, Meshrano Jirga chairman, Fazal Hadi Muslimyar, told reporters: “We are saddened over the attacks in Kabul, Kandahar and Helmand yesterday, the attacks were ominous acts and unjustifiable, I assure you we would ensure freedom and democracy with sacrifices”.

President Ashraf Ghani vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice, the broadcaster reported.

In the video, sent to media by Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, the pair appears pale and unshaven.

The attack underlined the security threat posed by Islamist militants fighting to topple the Afghan government and drive out foreign troops stationed there for the last 15 years.

The bombings are just the latest in a string of nationwide attacks as the Taliban goes on the offensive, even though the harsh Afghan winter.

Many within the Afghan government have dismissed the strategy as “illogical” as the Taliban already control vast swathes of Afghan territory.

The video emerged hours after the United Arab Emirates announced that five of its diplomats were killed Tuesday in Kandahar, Afghanistan.

Several thousand, mainly Americans, remain in training and counter-terrorism roles.

John Sopko is once again warning about the long-standing problems of corruption in Afghanistan, and the amount of USA “reconstruction aid” disappearing down black holes over the course of the years.

Another suicide bomber reportedly killed at least seven people in Helmand province, in an attack believed to be targeting an intelligence officer.

“The first explosion happened outside the parliament (.) a number of innocent workers were killed and wounded”.