Four civilians and four security guards were killed and 38 people wounded after a car bomb blast hit Mehtarlam city, capital of Afghanistan’s eastern Laghman province on Monday, local government confirmed.

“The car bomb blast hit the convoy of provincial governor Rahmatullah Yarmal when the motorcade was passing-by Sultan Ghazi Baba locality of the city. As a result four guards and four pedestrians were martyred and 38, including two guards, were wounded,” the government said in a statement.

Unofficial sources said a suicide bomber staged the attack that also caused destruction in the city, 90 km east of the country’s capital Kabul.

The governor escaped the attack as he was sitting in an armored vehicle.

The statement blamed enemies of peace, referring to the Taliban militant group, for the attack.

However, the militant group has yet to make comments.

Chairman of the High Council for National Reconciliation Abdullah Abdullah strongly condemned the attack.

Violence lingers in the war-torn country even as peace talks between the Afghan government delegation and Taliban representatives are being held in Doha, capital of the Gulf state of Qatar. (Agency report)