JALALABAD: At least six people were killed when a suicide bomber drove a motorcycle into a crowd at a political rally in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Sunday, police said.

The crowd had gathered in a sports stadium for a demonstration in support for President Ashraf Ghani, said Nangarhar province’s police spokesman Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal.

“Six people including a woman and a child have been killed and 13 more injured, all of them civilians,” he told AFP by phone.

The toll was confirmed by the provincial governor’s spokesman as well as a local health director, who said some of the wounded were in a serious condition.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but Nangarhar province is considered a hotbed for the Daesh group, which emerged in Afghanistan in late 2015.

The Taliban also have an active presence in parts of the province.

Afghan and US officials have stepped up their attacks on Daesh, saying the group was steadily losing territory with fighters largely confined to two or three districts in Nangarhar compared to around nine in January.

But the group has also intensified attacks across the country, particularly in the east and in the capital Kabul, recruiting followers and in some places challenging the Taliban on their own turf.

Last month a suicide attack claimed by Daesh militants hit a political gathering in Kabul, killing 14 people.

Political rivalries have also been intensifying in the country before next year’s long-delayed district and parliamentary elections, which would pave the way for a 2019 presidential ballot.

Also on Sunday, the commander of the Taliban’s “special forces” branch, known as the “Red Unit,” was killed last week in Helmand province by Afghan forces, according to Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency.

The National Directorate of Security (NDS) said Mullah Shah Wali, also known as Mullah Naser, was killed in an air operation in Helmand.

The province is a Taliban stronghold in the heartland of Afghanistan’s lucrative drug trade.

Wali became the commander of the Taliban’s “Red Unit” as well as deputy shadow governor of Helmand province three years ago and was directly involved in Taliban offensives, the statement said.

Meanwhile, it is reported that crime and casualties have undermined the US gains on Afghan battlefield.

Since US forces began stepping up air strikes against the Taliban, Kunduz shopkeeper Najibullah no longer fears another insurgent takeover of the northern Afghan city. But he does fear robbery or kidnap by militia gangs.

With Afghan forces improving and on the offensive, US commanders have more freedom to attack the Taliban and insurgents no longer threaten any major urban centres.

Although Taliban-controlled areas begin within a 10-minute drive of the city, Kunduz — a strategic hub that fell twice in the past two years — is largely calm. But there is a long way to go to build confidence in daily security.

“In the past people were afraid that the Taliban would come but no-one talks about that now,” said Najibullah, who like many Afghans, uses only one name.

“Now we have internal problems,” he said, leaning over the counter of his shop in the city centre and talking softly to avoid being overheard. “There are gunmen that do anything they want. There are people in this city, if they know you have money they’ll come to your shop and rob you in broad daylight.”

Agencies