At Least 66 Wounded in Bombings Across Eastern Afghanistan

At least 10 explosions reported on Afghan Independence Day

Officials in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar Province are reporting at least 66 people have been wounded in a series of apparent bombings in and around the city of Jalalabad. They say most of the injuries are minor.

Details are still emerging, but at least 10 separate explosions were reported around the city. There has been no claim of responsibility, though Nangarhar is the main territory held by ISIS.

ISIS is always liable to carry out attacks in Nangarhar, and Monday is also Afghanistan’s Independence Day, which certainly adds to making such an attack high profile.

The Taliban responded to the attack with a statement deeply critical of the US for not having identified the attackers in advance, adding that independence day would be a time to “leave Afghanistan to the Afghans.”



Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.