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Suicide Attack On Home Of Afghan MP Kills Two Guards


Afghanistan - Haji Zahir Qadir deputy of Afghan lower house speaker delivering a speech during a parliament session in Kabul, undated حاجی ظاهر قدیر
Afghanistan - Haji Zahir Qadir deputy of Afghan lower house speaker delivering a speech during a parliament session in Kabul, undated حاجی ظاهر قدیر

Two security guards have been killed in a suicide attack on a lawmaker's house in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar, local officials say.

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, said a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest in the morning of August 30 outside of parliamentarian Zahir Qader's house in Jalalabad, the provincial capital. Another attacker was shot and killed by the guards.

One guard was also wounded in the attack, Khogyani said.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In recent months, the security situation has deteriorated in Nangarhar Province, where both the Taliban and an affiliate of the extremist group Islamic State (IS) operate.

A U.S.-led invasion drove the Taliban from power in Afghanistan after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States -- carried out by Al-Qaida, whose leaders were harbored by the Taliban in Afghanistan.

But the government is struggling to beat back insurgents in the wake of the exit of most NATO forces in 2014.

A U.S. report found earlier this year that the Taliban controls or contests control of about 40 percent of the country, and security forces are also fighting against militants affiliated with IS.

Based on reporting by Khaama Press, AP, and dpa

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