Taliban says will keep targeting Afghan officials after attack on Defence Minister's house

Kabul [Afghanistan], August 5 : The Taliban will continue their attacks on Afghan officials, spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Wednesday, after a car bomb attack on the country's acting defence minister's house, reported Sputnik.
"This suicide attack was just the beginning of reprisals against the [Afghan] administration's key figures and leaders," Mujahid tweeted.
Earlier on Tuesday, at least eight people including a woman were killed and more than 20 wounded in a car bomb blast near the residence of acting Defence Minister General Bismillah Mohammadi in Kabul, the country's interior ministry said.
Later, the minister confirmed that neither he nor his family had been injured.
According to the Afghan media, the blast was due to a car bomb attack."Sources said that car bomb attack targeted a guesthouse that belonged to the acting Defense Minister Bismillah Mohammadi who was not there when the explosion happened," Tolo News reported.
This came amid heavy clashes between Afghanistan forces and the Taliban in several Afghan cities.
In the past few weeks, Afghanistan has witnessed a surge in violence as the Taliban has intensified their offensive against civilians and Afghan security forces with the complete pullback of foreign forces just a few weeks away.