Taliban claim responsibility for bombing that wounds 3

There are reports suggesting a restaurant popular with foreigners could be targeted in the explosion.

On January 11, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the USA and China are set to begin talks aimed at establishing a comprehensive roadmap for peace, according to officials.

Taliban has claimed responsibility for the explosion during the New Year celebrations in a popular restaurant at the 9th street of Taimani in Kabul, where four civilians were injured.

There was no further immediate information on the target or on any casualties from the blast, the latest in a series of attacks around Afghanistan in recent weeks.

The Afghan army launched a special operation in the country’s Helmand province and set free 59 people from a Taliban prison, sources said on Saturday.

Observers say the intensifying insurgency highlights a push by the militants to seize more territory in a bid to wrangle greater concessions during talks.

The incident came nearly two years after a suicide attack on a Lebanese restaurant in the city killed 21 people, including 13 expatriates, and prompted many foreign organizations to withdraw staff or place tight restrictions on their movements.

Residents in a house two blocks from the attack described a heavy blast that left several of their windows shattered on a night when temperatures were forecast to dip near freezing.

Yesterday, Afghanistan announced four-way peace talks in Pakistan for later this month. “The second round of the meeting will be convened in Kabul afterwards”, Ghani told a press briefing.

Pakistani and Afghan top military officials established a “Hot Line” and talked for the first time on Wednesday, amid renewed efforts to increase security cooperation, the Pakistani military said.