Militants kill four Afghan government employees in Kabul ambush

Heavily-armed militants have killed at least four government employees during an ambush in central Kabul as violent attacks continue to rock the Afghan capital city.

According to reports, Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said that the casualties occurred during the rush hour on Tuesday morning, when assailants opened fire on a vehicle carrying staff from the Afghan Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and Development.

A separate attack earlier in the day saw a civilian getting wounded when a bomb targeted another government vehicle.

Also on Tuesday, four police officers were killed and another wounded when their vehicle was hit by a roadside bomb in western Herat province Governor Wahid Qatali said.

Later in the day, the Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) said its forces had busted a six-member joint cell in Kabul.

"The [Pakistani] Taliban, terrorist Daesh, and Haqqani group are collaborating with each other to carry out bombings and targeted attacks," the NDS said.

Afghan security forces last week launched ground and air operations against the Taliban in the Sherzad district of the restive eastern province of Nangarhar. Afghan army commander Karim Niazi said on Tuesday that at least 80 militants and their commanders had been killed so far during the offensive in the troubled region.

"The Taliban had control on these areas for more than eight years... but now, our ground and air forces are beating them," he said.

Some media reports citing the Afghan Defense Ministry said that dozens of militants had been killed during separate operations across Nangarhar, Kandahar, and Faryab provinces over the past 24 hours.

The developments come as Kabul and several Afghan cities have seen near-daily attacks targeting prominent Afghans, including politicians, journalists, activists, judges, and religious scholars, in recent weeks.

SS