Kabul attack targets Afghan vice president

Terrorists bombed a vehicle convoy carrying Afghan First Vice President Amrullah Saleh on Wednesday. He suffered only minor burns, but 10 people died in the explosion, including bodyguards and civilians. The blast injured 31 others and set fire to several nearby shops that sell gas canisters for cooking and heating. The Taliban denied involvement in the attack.

How are things going in Afghanistan? The U.S.-brokered peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban should kick off in Qatar any day now, but the two sides are still squabbling over the release of insurgents from Afghan prisons—a precondition for negotiations. U.S. Marine Gen. Frank McKenzie, head of U.S. Central Command, said on Wednesday the military would bring home thousands more troops from Afghanistan and Iraq by late October or early November.

Dig deeper: Read Mindy Belz’s report in Globe Trot about how the Taliban failed to fulfill its promises to the United States.