Car Bomb Near US Embassy in Kabul Wounds Scores

A minibus packed with explosives detonated in the Afghan capital Kabul near the US Embassy at 9 a.m. local time on Monday. At least 100 people, about half of them children in nearby classrooms, were reported wounded in the blast, with no deaths confirmed. Shortly after the explosion, at least three insurgents entered a building near the Defense Ministry, and soldiers were sent in to hunt them down. Gunfire and explosions could be heard in the area. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attacks, which come as the Islamist militant group and the United States are holding their seventh round of peace talks in Qatar, the focus being a Taliban demand that foreign forces leave Afghanistan and a US demand for a guarantee that the country will not be used as a base for attacks elsewhere. Following the infamous September 11 attacks in 2001, Washington removed the Taliban from power in Afghanistan and has since assisted Kabul’s security forces in battling insurgents and other extremist groups, such as Islamic State and al-Qaida.