By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA): An early morning suicide truck bombing by Taliban killed at least 20 people in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, an official confirmed.

The massive bombing hitting the main public hospital in Qalat, capital of the Zabul province also left more than 95 others injured, Atta Jan Haq, the chairman of the provincial assembly, told Anadolu Agency.

A member of the Provincial Council in Qalat, Haji Atta Jan Haqbayan, said: “The number of casualties may rise as rescue teams and people are still searching the bodies under the rubble.”

The Taliban said the target was a nearby government intelligence building in Qalat

Several women, children, health workers and patients in the hospital were critically injured the blast.

It was the only public hospital in this remote province located between the restive Kandahar and Ghazni provinces marred by the deadly insurgency.

The local radio Salam Afghanistan reported that a team of doctors has been sent from Kandahar to Zabul to help the local health authorities in assisting the victims.

The Taliban took responsibility for the attack, claiming to have hit the regional office of the spy agency, National Directorate of Security, located nearby.

[Photo: Last week, Taliban carried out bomb attack which rocked Afghanistan’s capital Kabul close to the headquarters of the army’s commando forces on September 12, 2019. Photographer: Sayed Khodaberdi Sadat/AA]