At least 2 dead in blasts in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad, Taliban says

At least two people were killed and up to 20 more wounded in three explosions Saturday in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, a Taliban official said.

“So far we have reports of two killed and up to 20 wounded,” said the Taliban official, who asked not to be named, and said that a patrol vehicle was targeted.

“Women and children were among the injured,” he said.

An investigation was under way to establish the extent of the damage and the cause of the explosions, he added.

The attacks 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.

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.