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Afghan Peace Talks: Quadrilateral Committee to meet in Kabul today

Those killed included six officers and seven civilians in addition to the bomber, the official added.

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A suicide bomber targeting a police commander has killed at least 13 people, including nine civilians, in the northern Parwan province, an Afghan official said.

Wahid Sediqqi, spokesman for the provincial governor, gave a lower toll of 14 dead, including 6 policemen and 8civilians, and said the bomber was riding a motorcycle.

Taliban militants, who have stepped up attacks on Afghan security forces over the past year, claimed responsibility for the bombing.

The attack occurred in the district of Siagerd, a remote mountainous area where the Taliban are firmly entrenched.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said was aimed at a local police commander.

The Afghan government along with other nations like China, Pakistan and the USA, have revived efforts once again to continue peace negotiations with rebels after the last failure in the summer.

The representatives of the four countries, according to the sources, would share with each other the progress so far made in reaching out to various Taliban groups and would decide about the date for the direct talks between Kabul and the insurgents groups accordingly.

“The Afghan army retreated from two army bases in Musa Qala and one base from Nawzad district” on Saturday, provincial governor Khan Rahimi told AFP news agency, leaving no troops anywhere in those districts.

The bomb blast came as Afghan troops retreated from two districts in the southern province of Helmand.

The decision to pull out of key districts has angered the head of the local provincial council.

In August previous year, Taliban insurgents briefly captured the town of Musa Qala before Afghan forces backed by North Atlantic Treaty Organisation retook it.

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U.S. Special Forces units have been in the region to assist in training the Afghan army and hundreds more American troops were recently sent to bolster security for the training mission.

At least 13 people were killed in suicide bombing targeting Afghan police in the northwest of Kabul