2 civilians killed as Taliban attacks third Afghan provincial capital in a week

The Taliban attacked a third provincial capital in Afghanistan in less than a week, killing at least two civilians, an official said Friday as a US envoy was back in Qatar for unexpected talks on a US-Taliban deal he had described as complete just days earlier.

Farah provincial governor Mohammad Shoaib Sabet told The Associated Press that another 15 people were wounded in the latest attack, citing local hospitals, and that airstrikes had been carried out against the militant group.

Small clashes continued in the city, he said.

This week's spike in violence, including two shattering Taliban car bombings in the capital, Kabul, comes after US envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said he and the insurgents had reached a deal "in principle" that would begin a US troop pullout in exchange for Taliban counter-terror guarantees.

Khalilzad abruptly returned to Qatar, where the Taliban have a political office, from Kabul for more talks Thursday evening, even though earlier in the week he said the deal only needed President Donald Trump's approval to be final.

Objections to the agreement raised by the Afghan government and several former US ambassadors to Afghanistan, and the death of a US service member in the latest Kabul bombing on Thursday, have increased pressure on Khalilzad in recent days.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Eliot Engel has demanded that the envoy testify before the House committee about the negotiations, saying, "I do not consider your testimony at this hearing optional."