Taliban claims Afghan bomb attack, demands prisoner release

• At least seven intelligence personnel were killed by a car bomb in the eastern province of Ghazni.

GHAZNI: The Taliban claimed a deadly attack on an Afghan intelligence agency post Monday, even as they urged the new power-sharing government to accelerate a prisoner swap to pave the way for talks.

At least seven intelligence personnel were killed by a car bomb in the eastern province of Ghazni, Wahidullah Jumazada, spokesman for the province's governor told AFP.

"The terrorists have used a Humvee in their attack. They have targeted the National Directorate of Security unit in Ghazni city," he said, adding that 40 people were wounded.

The interior ministry in Kabul and a health official in Ghazni confirmed the car bomb.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter that their insurgents had carried out the attack.

The bombing comes a day after President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah signed a new power-sharing accord in Kabul, ending their bitter months-long feud.

The agreement overcomes one of the hurdles to negotiations with the Taliban, which warned Monday that talks cannot open until a so-far piecemeal prisoner swap is completed.

"That which is taking place in Kabul is only a repetition of the past failed experiences," Suhail Shaheen, a Taliban spokesman, said on Twitter in what was the group's first reaction to the Ghani-Abdullah deal.

"Afghan sides should focus on real and sincere solution to the issue... The prisoners' release process should be completed and the intra-Afghan negotiations should start."

The prisoner exchange was agreed under a US-Taliban deal signed in February, which excluded the Afghan government. Kabul has so far released about 1,000 Taliban prisoners, while the militants claim to have freed 263 government captives.