Bombing in Afghanistan

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At least 89 people were killed and 45 injured in two bombing attacks in Afghanistan Tuesday, officials said. A suicide bomber detonated a car bomb near a police checkpoint in the eastern province of Paktika.

The attack at 10:30 am (06:00 GMT) in a crowded area of Orgun district killed 38 people, mostly civilians, district governor Mohammad Reza Kharoti said.

It was the deadliest single attack in Afghanistan this year, and came in the middle of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

No group had yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Separately, two employees of the presidential office were killed when a roadside bomb was exploded by remote control as their vehicle passed it in the capital city of Kabul.

President Hamid Karzai’s office said five were wounded.

Karzai condemned the attack on his staff, calling it “against all religious and human values, and cannot be justified by any means.”

Taliban rebels claimed responsibility for the bombing, and said they had targeted a vehicle of the president’s press office.

Security in Afghanistan has worsened by the increase of the rebel attacks since the second round of the presidential election on June 14.