Roundup: Bomb attacks, targeted killings leave 70 dead in Afghanistan in February

Some 70 people with nearly half of them civilians were killed and more than 80 others wounded in major attacks across Afghanistan in February, according to officials.

The statistics showed that Taliban militant group fighters launched 20 bomb attacks last month, including nine suicide bombings, involving 13 suicide bombers.

The last attack of the month occurred on Feb. 27, when a suicide bomber exploded a car bomb near a bomb-proof vehicle of Farhidoon Mohmmand, a lawmaker in the lower house of the parliament, killing two passers-by children.

The legislator escaped the attack which occurred in eastern Nangarhar province, but 16 civilians sustained injuries.

The militants also launched several attacks, including two suicide bombings, in Afghan capital of Kabul last month.

On Feb. 26, one Turkish service member of the NATO- led Resolute Support (RS) forces and a civilian were killed and one Turkish solider wounded after a suicide car bombing targeted the vehicle of NATO Senior Civilian Representative in Afghanistan Ismail Aramaz, a Turkish diplomat, who escaped the blast.

In addition to suicide bombings, about 11 roadside bomb attacks took place last month throughout the country. Most of the blasts were triggered by remote control devices which were planted on the roadsides.

Four civilians, including a pregnant woman, were killed and one civilian was wounded after a running car set off a roadside bomb in Qara Bagh district, a suburban in the north of Kabul on Feb. 17.

At least 10 targeted killings occurred in a number of provinces in February, claiming the lives of government officials, security forces and local leaders.

The civilians considered to be supporting government, civilian government employees, religious leaders, tribal elders and persons involved in peace and reconciliation efforts came under attack in targeted killings.

On Feb. 10, a roadside bombing targeted the vehicle of Angiza Shinwari, a female provincial council member, in eastern Nangarhar province, killing her driver on the spot and injuring five civilians.

Shinwari succumbed to the wounds she sustained in the attack on Feb. 16.

The Taliban has intensified attacks over the past couple of months as Afghan forces took over the lead in providing security for the country since Jan. 1 this year, following a four-year security transition process that ended on Dec. 31, 2014.

After Jan. 1, the U.S. and NATO-led troops switched from combat to support role -- NATO-led RS, which will focus on training, advising and assisting Afghan troops.

Nearly 13,000 foreign forces were involved in the mission.

The Taliban militants also launched a string of massive attacks on security checkpoints and army outposts last month, killing and injuring scores of security forces.

On Feb. 17, 24 policemen were killed and several others wounded after militants launched a complex suicide bombing on provincial police station in eastern Logar province.

At least 36 others were also killed in attacks across the country last month.

The exact number of casualties on the army and police last month remained unknown.

Nearly 5,000 Afghan soldiers and police were killed and thousands of others wounded last year in the Central Asian country.

In January this year, 95 people were killed and about 190 others wounded in attacks across the country.

In 2014, Nearly 3,700 civilians were killed and more than 6,800 others wounded in conflicts and Taliban-led attack, according to official figures released by the UN mission in the country.

The officials blamed the attacks on Taliban insurgents and other armed groups for vast majority of the civilian deaths and injuries last year. Endit