2nd LD Writethru: Bomb attack injures 8 in northern Afghan city

At least eight people were wounded after a bomb targeted a local leader in Kunduz city, capital of Afghanistan's northern province of Kunduz on Tuesday, police said.

"A sticky bomb attached to a sedan was detonated at around 10 a.m. local time (0530 GMT) near a main square in the city, leaving eight persons injured," deputy provincial police chief Massom Hashimi told Xinhua.

The stricken vehicle belonged to Hajji Abdul Qadir, a pro-government figure in the province, the source said.

Those injured included Qadir, three other people aboard the vehicle as well as a traffic police officer and three civilian passersby.

The injured were shifted to a hospital in the city, some 250 km north of the Afghan capital Kabul, where two of the wounded remained in critical condition.

Security forces have cordoned off the area for precautionary measures.

"The initial information by police showed the explosive device was exploded by a remote controller and that the police have launched a search operation at the site to detain culprits behind the attack," the police official noted.

So far, no one has claimed responsibility for the blast, but the Taliban militant group has launched similar attacks in the past.

The Taliban has intensified attacks across the country since the start of this year, which coincides with the potential resumption of government-Taliban peace talks.

On Monday, seven civilians and six police were killed and 11 others wounded after a Taliban suicide bomber struck a police patrol in eastern Parwan province.

Some 3,545 Afghan civilians were killed and 7,457 injured last year, according to a report released by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) on Feb. 14.

Some 850 civilians were killed while 570 others were wounded by targeted attacks in 2015.

The report has attributed 62 percent of the casualties to the Taliban and other insurgent groups, 17 percent were attributed to security forces while the rest 21 percent of casualties were attributed or caused by explosive remnants of past wars. Enditem