KABUL (TIP): A Taliban suicide car bomb killed at least 13 people, including six policemen, on May 1 in a normally peaceful region of eastern Afghanistan, officials said, nearly one month after elections. “A suicide attacker detonated his vehicle-loaded explosive after been identified by security forces,” Abdul Aziz Ghairat, police chief of Panjshir province, told AFP.

“Six police were killed, and seven civilians. A number of other civilians and security forces were wounded.” The ministry of interior confirmed the incident at the highly-guarded checkpoint where vehicles enter the Panjshir valley. “Around 5:00pm, a suicide bomber in a Toyota Sedan vehicle detonated his explosives-loaded vehicle,” it said in a statement.

“As a result of this attack, six policemen were killed and a number of civilians were wounded.” Panjshir province, north of Kabul, was a bastion of anti-Taliban resistance during the extremists’ 1996-2001 regime, and has been relatively stable since they were ousted. The steep valley in the Hindu Kush mountain range is also famous for its residents’ dogged resistance against the Soviet occupation of the 1980s