Blast targets Afghan President's office in Jalalabad

A blast occurred near President Ashraf Ghani's campaign office in the city of Jalalabad in Nangarhar province early on Sunday morning (local time), local officials told Tolo News.

However, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Ghani is currently in Washington to discuss with his American counterpart the contentions over the US-Taliban deal that agreed 'in principle' to withdraw over 5,000 US troops from Afghanistan in exchange for guarantees by the Taliban to not allow the war-torn country to be used as a base for attacks abroad.

But in a shocking twist of incidents, US President Donald Trump on Saturday said he had called off peace negotiations with the Taliban after the group claimed responsibility for the Kabul car bombing which killed 12 people, including an American soldier.

In a series of tweets, Trump said he also cancelled a "secret meeting" with the Taliban representatives and a separate meeting with Ghani that was about to take place at Camp David today.

The US has been holding talks with the Taliban in the last few months at Doha despite the group's reluctance to hold direct talks with the Afghan government, which it views as a US puppet.

-ANI