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New Delhi, Delhi, India
Four civilians were killed and eight others were injured in the Zabul province. The victims were travelling by bus when a roadside bomb exploded. Two children were among the dead. This blast was just one of the many bloody attacks that hit Afghanistan this month.
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On May 18, seven people were killed and 40 others were injured in the Ghazni province after a car bomb blew up near a military base.
The target was the National Directorate of the security unit. Most of the victims were intelligence personnel. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.
Also read: Rise in civilian deaths by Taliban and Afghan forces, says UN
On May 17, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah signed a power-sharing agreement. So, on paper, the battle for political power was over. The road ahead for the intra-Afghan talks and a peace deal was clear.
The Taliban was clearly not pleased.
On May 14, it killed at least five people in the eastern city of Gardez. It blew up a truck packed with explosives near a military court. At least a dozen civilians were injured.
On May 12, terrorists stormed a maternity hospital in Kabul killing 24 people including two new born babies shocking the world.
On the same day, a suicide bomber targeted a funeral in the Nangarhar province where 32 people were killed and 133 injured.
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for this attack. The question now is - why now? Why this sudden spate of attacks in the middle of a pandemic?
Civilian casualties are on the rise in Afghanistan and it is not just the Taliban that's responsible for it.
In April, the Taliban killed 208 civilians. An increase of 25 per cent from last year. The Afghan national security forces are responsible for 172 civilian deaths in the same period.
An increase of 38 per cent from last year. These numbers are from the United Nations assistance mission in Afghanistan. More than 72 people have already died this month.
There are way too many players in Afghanistan and the dead are collateral damage as different sides fight to stay relevant in a war-ravaged nation.