Afghan official: Taliban suicide car bombing kills 1

During that time, the city of Kunduz twice fell into the hands of the Taliban before Afghan forces retook it. Since then, there have been scores of attacks.

Separately, the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan on Tuesday claimed responsibility for killing 54 Shiite civilians last week in the Mirzawalang area in northern Sari Pul province. The Sunni extremist group considers Shiites as apostates and frequently targets them.

The Taliban and IS are both active across much of Afghanistan and are mostly rivals. There have been several reports of firefights between the two insurgent groups in different parts of the country.

But in the case of the attack in Mirzawalang, the two appeared to have joined forces and put rivalries aside. Local media and residents recounted seeing both the Taliban white banner and the Islamic State group’s black flag flying together during the attack. At one point during the attack, the Taliban released 235 villagers following mediation by tribal elders.

Zabi Amani, spokesman for the Sari Pul governor, said Afghan security forces managed to retake control of Mirzawalang from the insurgents.

“Right now people are trying to identify the bodies scattered all over the area,” he said, adding that many of the bodies have been beheaded and are difficult to identify.

Earlier, the Taliban also claimed responsibility for the attack in Mirzawalang but denied the killing of locals.

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Associated Press writer Maamoun Youssef in Cairo contributed to this report.

Rahim Faiez, The Associated Press

by Canadian Press

Afghan official: Taliban suicide car bombing kills 1

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