UPDATE - Afghanistan: Kabul's deputy governor killed in blast

UPDATES WITH REMARKS FROM PRESIDENT GHANI, SUBSEQUENT ATTACK IN GHOR; CHANGES DECK, LEDE; ADDS BACKGROUND

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Three senior local officials in Afghanistan were killed Tuesday in targeted magnetic bomb attacks, Afghan authorities confirmed.

According to the Interior Ministry, a vehicle carrying the deputy governor of the capital Kabul, Muhibullah Mohammadi, was blown up in an attack close to his residence in the Macroryan area near the high-security blue zone during the morning rush-hour.

Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said in a statement that the secretary of the young deputy governor was also killed, while two security guards sustained injuries.

"This act of the terrorists is a war crime and inhumane," he said, adding that a network of terrorists involved in such recent attacks have been arrested and the rest would soon be nabbed as well.

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack, saying the "enemy" reverted to violence after facing defeat in a face-to-face war with the security forces, referring to the Taliban.

"The Taliban cannot escape responsibility from calls for permanent ceasefire by the Afghan people, government and the international community, and the increased terrorist attacks on highways and cities following the Doha agreement [with the US]," Ghani said in a statement.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks.

Separately, the deputy council chairman of the central Ghor province, Abdul Rehman Atshan, was killed by another magnetic bomb. According to the head of the Public Health Department, Abdul Lateef, Atshan was targeted in his car.

Two others were injured in the blast, which also has not been claimed by any group or individual.

A string of such attacks have rocked the war-ravaged country amid stalled peace talks between the Taliban and Afghan government in the Qatari capital, Doha.