UN chief outraged at terror attacks in Afghanistan: spokesman

United Nations, April 30 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was outraged at a series of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan and extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims, a UN spokesman said here Monday.

The attacks in Kabul and Kandahar caused numerous casualties among civilians, emergency responders, and school children, said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for the secretary-general.

Earlier Monday, at least 23 people, including two assailants, were killed and 27 others wounded after two suicide bomb blasts rocked a diplomatic district in central Kabul, the Afghani capital, officials said.

Meanwhile, a suicide bomber targeted a military convoy in Daman district of Afghanistan's southern Kandahar province, killing 11 civilians and injuring over a dozen others, a local official said.

Afghanistan's journalist associations said nine journalists are among the dead in the attacks in Kabul.

"The deliberate targeting of journalists in the attack highlights once again the risks media professionals face in carrying out their essential work," Dujarric said, urging those responsible for such crimes be brought to justice.

He said Guterres extended his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and wished a speedy recovery to those injured.

Afghanistan has been battered by insurgency over the past couple of decades with the presence of different militant groups including the most dominant Taliban, in addition to al-Qaida and recently the Islamic States. Enditem