Afghanistan Suicide Bomb In Jalalabad Leaves Many Dead

At least 33 people have been killed and 100 injured in a suicide bomb attack in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

The blast happened outside a bank, said the chief of police for Nangarhar province, Fazel Ahmad Sherzad.

He said the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber on a motorbike.

Government workers and military personnel were waiting to collect their salaries outside the branch of the New Kabul Bank when the explosion occurred, Sherzad said.

Police said another bomb was discovered nearby, and was destroyed in a controlled explosion.

Another blast was also reported outside a shrine in Jalalabad on Saturday morning. There are no reported casualties.

No group has said it carried out the attacks, and a spokesman for the Taliban said they were not involved.

On 10 April, a Taliban assault on a Nato convoy near Jalalabad airport killed three civilians.

Only a few thousand Nato troops remain in Afghanistan, largely in training roles, after their combat role ended there in December.

(BBC)