At least 12 army recruits were killed when a suicide bomber targeted the bus in which they were travelling near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. Reports relating to the number injured in the attack range from at least 26 up to 38. No group has claimed responsibility, but the attack bears the hallmarks of the Taliban, which routinely targets military recruits and recruitment centres. The army recruits tend to be heavily from the east and north of the country, and despite poor pay and bleak prospects, high unemployment continues to drive young men to join. The army and the police lost a combined total of about 6,000 men in 2015, nearly half of those casualties coming in the southern province of Helmand, which is the country’s largest province both in terms of territory and opium production. In recent years, there have been several attacks on Afghan security forces by Taliban insurgents who are believed to receive support from Pakistan.
At least 12 army recruits were killed when a suicide bomber targeted the bus in which they were travelling near Jalalabad in eastern Afghanistan. Reports relating to the number injured in the attack range from at least 26 up to 38. No group has claimed responsibility, but the attack bears the hallmarks of the Taliban, which routinely targets military recruits and recruitment centres. The army recruits tend to be heavily from the east and north of the country, and despite poor pay and bleak prospects, high unemployment continues to drive young men to join. In recent years, there have been several attacks on Afghan security forces by Taliban insurgents who are believed to receive support from Pakistan.