Six Killed In Suicide Attack

From RFERL:

Six police officers have been killed in a suicide car bombing in southern Afghanistan, officials said.

Nine others were wounded, five of them seriously, in the attack early on December 22 in Kandahar Province, which was claimed by the Taliban.

The suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the entrance to a police headquarters in Maiwand district, officials said.

Commentators say attacks on security posts and bases are on the rise in Afghanistan.

The attack comes hours after U.S. Vice President Mike Pence made an unannounced visit to Afghanistan.

Pence said “real progress” is being made on the ground in Afghanistan.

Pence said Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has told him that more senior Taliban leaders have been eliminated this year than in all prior years of the war combined.

U.S. President Donald Trump announced a new Afghan strategy in August.

Pence said that, because of that decision, the U.S. has been sending more resources and troops into Afghanistan.