This article was originally published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty and is reprinted with permission.
A suicide bombing at the entrance to a military training center in Kabul has killed at least six people and wounded six, police and security officials say.
The attacker detonated his explosives on May 30 outside the Marshal Fahim National Defense University, to the west of the Afghan capital, police said.
The Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack, the IS-linked online Amaq News Agency announced.
The explosion occurred as cadets were leaving the college, which is one of Afghanistan’s main officer-training academies.
The suicide bomber, who was on foot, blew himself up when a soldier challenged him, Kabul police spokesman Firdaws Faramarz said.
The attack occurred around noon, a time when students typically leave school early during the month of Ramadan.
It also occurred as Taliban representatives met senior Afghan politicians in Moscow amid efforts to reach a settlement to end the almost 18-year-long conflict.
Mohammad Sohail Shaheen, the chief spokesman for the Taliban delegation, told reporters after the meeting, “We are satisfied, that was successful negotiations, and we hope to continue this tempo in the future.”
Meanwhile, officials in the eastern province of Maidan Wardak said that 200 Taliban fighters launched an assault on the Chak district late on May 29.
Provincial police chief Mohammad Wais Samimi said that the situation there was now under control after troops backed by air support pushed back the attackers.
The police chief said that 45 Taliban militants died and 50 others were wounded during the clashes, while Afghan security forces suffered no casualties.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said three militants and 12 Afghan soldiers had lost their lives.
Also on May 30, the Afghan Defense Ministry said that its commandos had freed 28 prisoners from a Taliban prison in the southern Zabul Province.
Among them were 16 civilians and 12 members of the security forces, who were taken for medical check-ups, the statement added.
Two Taliban militants were killed during the rescue operation, the ministry said.
