Kabul: A powerful explosion went off next to an Afghan intelligence office not far from the capital on Sunday, a provincial lawmaker said. There was no immediate word on casualties, but gunshots also were heard in the area.
Separately Sunday, Afghan officials said that an apparent NATO airstrike had killed 15 people—nine of them civilians, including women and children—in an eastern province where the Taliban are strong. NATO said 10 militants died in the strike, and that it had no reports of any civilian deaths.
Hazrat Janan, who is a member of the council that governs Wardak province, says the blast shattered windows of buildings in a wide stretch of Maidan Shahr city.
Maidan Shahr lies around 40 km (25 miles) from Kabul, and the apparent attack underscored the spreading insecurity across Afghanistan as U.S.-led forces reduce their presence and hand over more responsibility to Afghan troops.
According to Janan, gunshots were heard in the area immediately after the explosion, suggesting that militants could be staging a multi-faceted attack.
Meanwhile, conflicting reports emerged from the airstrike in the Watapur district of Kunar, a province that lies along the border with Pakistan.
It's a militant stronghold, and many Arab and other foreign insurgents are believed to operate there alongside the Afghan Taliban. Some are suspected of links to the Al-Qaida terrorist network.
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