Afghan officials: 4 bombs go off in Kabul; 4 civilians hurt

Four bombs, one placed under a garbage bin and the other three by the roadside, went off in northern Kabul on Monday, wounding four civilians, including a child, Afghan officials said. The roadside bombs were spaced within 10-20 meters (yards) of one another, said Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz. The wounded child is a 12-year-old girl, he said and added that the police are searching the area where the bombs struck.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombings and their targets remained unknown. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in Kabul and its surroundings and both frequently target the military and civilians.

Kabul has witnessed several low-scale attacks over the past seven days, including explosions from two hand grenades on Sunday night in the western part of Kabul. There were no casualties in that attack, according to Tariq Arian, the spokesman for the Interior Ministry. Last Thursday, a rocket targeted a power station and two roadside bombs went off in different areas of Kabul, also causing no casualties. No one has claimed responsibility for those attacks.

Meanwhile, an exchange of prisoners between the Afghan government and the Taliban has continued under a deal signed in February between the US and the Taliban. The deal stipulates that the government free 5,000 Taliban prisoners while the insurgents are to release 1,000 captives, an exchange that is expected to lead to intra-Afghan negotiations. The exchange has come in stages and so far, and the government in Kabul says it has freed 1,000 Taliban prisoners. The insurgents have confirmed the release of 300 Taliban members.

For their part, the Taliban say they have freed 225 of their captives, including Afghan defense and security personnel members — a release not confirmed by the government.(AP) AMS AMS.

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