A suicide car bomb was detonated in the Ghor province of Afghanistan, killing at least 13 people and injuring around 120 others. Among the wounded are about 3 dozen Afghan security personnel. According to Interior Ministry spokesperson Tariq Aran, the bomb exploded near the entrance of the provincial police chief's office, also damaging the women's affairs department building and the provincial office for refugees. Mohammad Omer Lalzad, the head of a local hospital in the province, said that he expected the death toll to rise as his hospital is currently treating some victims with very serious injuries.

As of now, no person or group has claimed responsibility over the attack. While some local media groups are accusing the Taliban militant group of the bombing after a recent increase of Taliban attacks, on October 16th, the Taliban agreed to suspend attacks in southern Afghanistan after the United States of America vowed to cease all airstrikes and night raids in accordance to a bilateral agreement the US signed with the group in February. The latest bombing comes as representatives of the Taliban and officials of the Afghan government hold their first-ever face-to-face talks in Qatar in an effort to bring the 19 year-long war to an end.

On the other hand, other local media groups in Afghanistan suspect that the Islamic State militant group or an affiliated group may have been responsible for the bombing.

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