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Twenty-one people died and as common as 90 people were injured after a suicide truck attack in Afghanistan on Friday. The truck bomb hit a guest house in Pul-e-Alam, the capital of Logar province, in the east part of the country.
No one directly claimed ability, and it was unclear why the company house was targeted. Guesthouses are given free by the government in Afghanistan for use by the poor, travellers and students.
The bombing comes as US and NATO troops are to start withdrawing from Afghanistan.
The Taliban has demanded that all US troops pull out of Afghanistan by May 1 and have not guaranteed departing troops’ safety.
There was no indication that the attack on Friday was linked to the troop withdrawal and there are no US or NATO troops in Logar province. Rasool Gul Samar, top of the Logar provincial health department, said five bodies were brought to the hospital in Pul-e-Alam, AP reported.
He said that with the dozens of injured, 12 people who were in critical condition were transferred to the capital, Kabul, for treatment.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian declared the attack was under probe and that the guesthouse’s roof had collapsed in the bombing. There were fears data could be caught under the rubble, he said.
Meanwhile, after 20 years, Washington is stopping the war in Afghanistan. Starting on Saturday, the last permanent 2,500 to 3,500 American troops will begin leaving the roots, to be fully out by September 11 at the latest.
The pullout arrives amid a resurgent Taliban, who check or hold sway over half of Afghanistan.