Afghanistan: 4 policemen killed in suicide car bombing

KABUL, Afghanistan

A Taliban-claimed suicide car bombing in Afghanistan's central Ghazni province on Saturday killed at least four policeman and injured 17 others, an official said.

Juma Khan, governor of Aab Band district, told Anadolu Agency the administrative compound has almost collapsed following the massive bombing early in the morning. Sustaining minor injuries himself, Khan confirmed four policeman were killed and 17 others were injured.

Zabihullah Mujahed, one of the Taliban's focal person, claimed responsibility for the attack.

This came days after a string of similar suicide bombings in the capital Kabul that killed 12 people -- including five women and a child.

Amid efforts to expedite the nascent peace process, the raging war continues to claim more lives in the war-ravaged country, with the warring sides apparently pushing for the upper hand.

The U.S. and Afghanistan said Thursday they have agreed to accelerate efforts to reach a negotiated end to the conflict in the war-ravaged country.

In a joint statement, Washington and Kabul said the agreement had been reached in a telephone call between U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.

Ghani had asked for clarifications following President Donald Trump's remark that the United States could easily win the war in Afghanistan but he didn't "want to kill 10 million people."

Pompeo assured Ghani that "there has been no change to President Trump's South Asia strategy, including U.S. commitment to a conditions-based drawdown" of troops, the statement said.

It said Pompeo and Ghani had agreed that "now is the time to accelerate efforts to reach a negotiated end to the war in Afghanistan."

Gen. Joseph Dunford, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Washington's special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad had been sent to Kabul to "discuss in detail the next steps on the road to peace," the statement said.