Bombings kill 10 in Afghanistan as Kerry holds meetings

Bombings kill 10 in Afghanistan as Kerry holds meetings

PanARMENIAN.Net - Authorities in Afghanistan said at least 10 people have been killed in separate roadside bombings in the country, according to the Associated Press.

The deadliest attack Saturday, July 12, happened in southern Kandahar province. Panjwayi district police chief Sultan Mohammad said a bomb struck a civilian car there, killing eight people. He blamed the Taliban for the bombing.

In eastern Nangarhar province, another bomb struck a vehicle. Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the blast in the city of Jalalabad killed a civilian and a police officer. No group immediately claimed responsibility for that blast.

The violence comes during the Taliban's annual spring offensive. They are trying to undermine the Western-backed government as foreign combat troops prepare to withdraw by the end of the year.

Meanwhile,U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry was meeting with rival Afghan presidential candidates for a second day as the United States struggles to find a path out of the crisis enveloping the nation's elections.

The prolonged uncertainty about the outcome of a runoff has jeopardized a central plank of President Barack Obama's strategy to leave behind a stable state after the withdrawal of most U.S. troops at year's end, the Associated Press says.

Kerry met Saturday with the candidates, former Finance Minister Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai and former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah, after discussions Friday proved inconclusive. The top American diplomat is grappling for a plan acceptable to all that would allow the United Nations to audit extensive fraud allegations in last month's vote.

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