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Agence France-Presse

A fresh round of violence gripped Afghanistan on Saturday and explosions shattered weeks of relative calm in the capital Kabul, one day after the Taliban launched their annual spring offensive.
The bloodshed comes as the US pushes for a peace settlement with the Taliban, and ahead of a new round of talks expected to take place in Qatar later this month.
In one assault, Taliban attackers were reported around the edges of the northern city of Kunduz, which the militants briefly captured in 2015.
Naeem Mangal, head of the Kunduz regional hospital, said at least eight people were killed and 62 wounded.

The Taliban takeover of Kunduz in 2015 shocked observers, and marked the first time since their removal from power in 2001 that they had been able to conquer a major city.
Late Saturday in Kabul, a central police station came under attack in the first major incident of its kind in several weeks.
Ministry of the Interior spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said at least one person was killed and six others wounded when two hand grenades were thrown at a military vehicle.
No one immediately claimed responsibility.
US applauds UN court decision not to probe Afghan war crime claims
After nearly 18 years of war, the US is trying to forge a settlement with the Taliban, and President Donald Trump is impatient for some sort of resolution.
US officials have already met several times with the Taliban and further talks are expected in the Qatari capital Doha later this month.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani wants to send a delegation to “exchange views” with the Taliban, but even the process of picking delegates has become bogged down with squabbling and delays.
The Taliban have long refused to speak officially with Kabul, dubbing the government a “puppet” of the West, and the militants have insisted that government officials are attending only in a “personal capacity”.
In Ghor province in the west, at least seven Afghan security forces were killed in a Taliban ambush, Ghor provincial governor spokesman Abdul Hai Khatibi said.
‘Just like captors’: ex-hostage says husband tied, raped her after release
And the Taliban said they had conducted a truck bomb attack in the Shirzad district of the eastern province Nangarhar late Friday, claiming to have killed or wounded “more than 200 soldiers, police and militias”.
The insurgents frequently exaggerate numbers. Nangarhar provincial governor spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said two Afghan troops had been killed, along with 27 Taliban fighters.




The violence came hours after the Taliban announced the start of Operation Fath, the name the militants have given to this year’s spring offensive.
“Both sides have sustained casualties,” the Afghan defence ministry said. “Clashes are ongoing between (Afghan security forces) and Taliban terrorists.”
At least 16 killed in Afghanistan suicide blast
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani’s palace on Saturday condemned “in the strongest words” the announcement of Operation Fath.
“The continuation of war is no one’s interest,” the palace said.
The spring offensive traditionally marks the start of the so-called fighting season, though fighting nowadays continues unabated throughout the year.

The Taliban blamed Ghani’s government and the US for the violence, accusing them of the indiscriminate killing of civilians in a bombing campaign.
“We also want to clarify that we are committed to the ongoing negotiations process and a peaceful resolution but cannot remain indifferent to the military operations and ongoing crimes of the invaders and their internal supporters,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.
US and the Taliban pause negotiations in Doha following ‘solid’ talks
To facilitate travel to Doha, the United Nations has lifted travel bans for 11 Taliban delegates, including Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, a co-founder of the Islamist movement and its top political leader, as well as Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, the Taliban’s former deputy minister of foreign affairs.
“The requested exemption is solely for travels required for participation in peace and reconciliation discussions,” the UN Security Council said.


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War in Afghanistan

New attacks as spring offensive begins in Afghanistan

An Afghan security force member takes position during a fighting with Taliban in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, on Saturday. Photo: Xinhua

(190413) -- KUNDUZ, April 13, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Injured men receive medical treatment at a local hospital in Kunduz province, Afghanistan, April 13, 2019. Earlier on Friday, the Taliban militant group announced the launch of a yearly offensive dubbed "al-Fath", which means "victory" in Arabic language. (Xinhua/Ajmal Kakar)

A wounded Afghan man receives treatment at a hospital one day after the start of the Taliban spring offensive, in Kunduz province, Afghanistan April 13, 2019. REUTERS/Stringer NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES

(190413) -- HELMAND(AFGHANISTAN), April 13, 2019 (Xinhua) -- Afghan security force members take part in a military operation in Gerishk district of southern Helmand province, Afghanistan, April 12, 2019. Earlier on Friday, the Taliban militant group announced the launch of a yearly offensive dubbed "al-Fath", which means "victory" in Arabic language. (Xinhua/Abdul Aziz Safdari)

US applauds top UN court decision not to investigate claims of war crimes in Afghanistan

A US soldier returns fire as others run for cover during a firefight with insurgents in southern Afghanistan in February 2010. Photo: AP

In this undated photo obtained 27 December 2001 from the US Air Force, US Air Force troops strip-search and secured for transport an English- speaking Taliban detainee in Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan. Detainees were being prepared and processed for transport from Mazar-e Sharif to Camp Rhino in Kandahar, Afghanistan. AFP PHOTO CECILIO M. RICARDO, JR.

U.S. Marines, from the 24th Marine Expeditionary Unit, return fire on Taliban positions near the town of Garmser in Helmand Province of Afghanistan Friday May 2, 2008. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)

A US UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter heavy machine gun operator prepares for take off from the Arghandab Base in Kandahar's province Arghandab Valley on August 9, 2010. NATO and the United States have close to 150,000 troops in the country, with 30,000 deployed to the southern Taliban heartland in Helmand and Kandahar provinces. TOPSHOTS/AFP PHOTO/Yuri CORTEZ

US President Donald Trump speaks during an announcement about 5G network deployment in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, on April 12, 2019. (Photo by NICHOLAS KAMM / AFP)

A US warplane bombing Taliban positions in Afghanistan. File photo: Reuters

‘Just like captors’: former Afghanistan hostage Caitlan Coleman says husband Joshua Boyle tied her up and raped her after they were released

Caitlin Coleman leaves the Ottawa court house in Ottawa, Ontario, on March 27, 2019. - A couple who split after a five-year hostage ordeal in Afghanistan faced each other in a Canadian court at the husband's trial for sexually assaulting his wife. US citizen Caitlan Coleman, 33, recounted her "rollercoaster" relationship with Canadian Joshua Boyle that ended in the alleged abuse after their 2017 release. Boyle and Coleman, who married in 2011, were kidnapped by the Taliban during what they called a backpacking trip in 2012 and were transferred to the custody of the brutal Taliban-allied Haqqani network. (Photo by Lars Hagberg / AFP)

Joshua Boyle and his mother leaves the Ottawa court house in Ottawa, Ontario, on March 27, 2019. - A couple who split after a five-year hostage ordeal in Afghanistan faced each other in a Canadian court at the husband's trial for sexually assaulting his wife. US citizen Caitlan Coleman, 33, recounted her "rollercoaster" relationship with Canadian Joshua Boyle that ended in the alleged abuse after their 2017 release. Boyle and Coleman, who married in 2011, were kidnapped by the Taliban during what they called a backpacking trip in 2012 and were transferred to the custody of the brutal Taliban-allied Haqqani network. (Photo by Lars Hagberg / AFP)

Joshua Boyle walks through the airport after arriving with his wife and three children at Toronto Pearson International Airport, nearly 5 years after he and his wife were abducted in Afghanistan in 2012 by the Taliban-allied Haqqani network, in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, October 13, 2017. REUTERS/Mark Blinch

Former hostage Caitlan Coleman, the estranged wife of fellow hostage Joshua Boyle, arrives at the courthouse for his criminal trial in Ottawa on Wednesday. Photo: Reuters

Suicide blast kills at least 16 as militants storm construction company in Afghanistan

Afghan security officials secure the road leading to the scene of a suicide bomb attack near the airport in Jalalabad. Photo: EPA-EFE

An Afghan police officer takes position near the site of an attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Parwiz

An Afghan police officer stands guard near the site of an attack in Jalalabad, Afghanistan March 6, 2019. REUTERS/Parwiz

epa07416471 Afghan security officials secure the road leading to the scene of a suicide bomb attack near the airport in Jalalabad, Afghanistan, 06 March 2019. According to media reports on 06 March, suicide bombers and gunmen attacked an office of a construction company near the airport in Jalalabad, killing 16 employees, while security forces reportedly killed four other militants involved in the attack. EPA-EFE/GHULAMULLAH HABIBI

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At least eight people were killed and 62 wounded in one assault at the edges of the Taliban-controlled city of Kunduz
And in the capital of Kabul, one person was killed and six others wounded when two hand grenades were thrown at a military vehicle


At least eight people were killed and 62 wounded in one assault at the edges of the Taliban-controlled city of Kunduz, and in the capital of Kabul, one person was killed and six others wounded when two hand grenades were thrown at a military vehicle.
