Suicide Bombing Targets Afghani Protest

A suicide bombing in Eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province has left at least 20 dead and 57 wounded. The bombing targeted a protest in the Mohmand Dara region of the province. Protesters demanding the dismissal of a local police chief were blocking the main highway that connects the city of Jalalabad and the Torkham border with Pakistan when the bomber detonated his explosive vest. No group has yet claimed responsibility despite the fact that the Nangahar district, and Eastern Afghanistan as a whole, is known for its high prevalence of extremist groups.

According to government spokesperson Attaullah Kogyani, this attack was the most recent in a series of bombings throughout the region. One bomb was detonated at the Bibi Hawa girl’s school in the Behsood district. No injuries or fatalities were reported as classes have not yet begun, and so no students were present at the time of the blast. Shortly after the initial blast at Bibi Hawa, two more blasts rocked the Malika Omira girl’s school: the first bomb detonating outside the school’s front gates, and a second bomb exploded after a crowd had gathered. Casualties are estimated to be low, around 1 dead and four injured.

Both the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K), the ISIS branch in Afghanistan, and the Taliban are very active in the region, especially in Jalalabad. Despite both ISIS-K and the Taliban being Sunni groups, the two are in a state of constant tension. This tension has led to violence on multiple occasions, including a June suicide bombing by ISIS-K targeting a gathering of Taliban fighters and government officials who were celebrating the ceasefire between the two parties. The bombing, which detonated outside the provincial governor’s palace where the reception was being held, left 19 dead and 65 wounded. ISIS-K are considered to be the main suspects, despite never formally claiming responsibility.

Over the weekend, prior to the aforementioned protest bombing, a Taliban offensive overran the district center of Kham Ab in the province of Jawzjan, and are threatening the provincial capital of the Sar-i-Pul. Sar-i-Pul city is currently one of the ten provincial capitals in danger of being overrun by Taliban forces, including the provincial capitals of Badakhshan, Uruzgan, Faryab, Baghlan, and Paktia.

Despite the best efforts a 17-year US military presence in Afghanistan, the Taliban continue to repeatedly demonstrate that they are capable of taking and controlling government-held territory by focusing on capturing remote areas, where the government has difficulty projecting it’s reach, the Taliban is currently in control of or contesting control of 61% of Afghanistan’s provinces.

The US is currently offering the Afghani government military and civil resources in an effort to roll back Taliban gains, and will continue to support the government.