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More than 50 people have been killed in a wave of attacks across three Afghan provinces, including the capital, Kabul, despite renewed momentum in peace efforts to put an end to the country's nearly 18-year war.

Three blasts in eastern Kabul on July 25 left at least 10 dead, including five women while 41 others were wounded, Ministry of Public Health spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said.

A wounded woman arrives for treatment at a hospital after a blast in Kabul on July 25.

The first explosion involved a suicide bomber on a motorcycle who blew himself up next to a bus belonging to the Ministry of Mines, according to Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.

A second explosion took place in the same area while a third explosion triggered by a car bomb took place further east, Rahimi said.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid claimed responsibility for the car bomb, saying that a convoy of "foreign invaders" passing the area was targeted in the bombing.

If true, some in the Taliban have stated that there will be no real peace till the US is out of the country: Taliban sources draft deal: Foreign troops to leave Afghanistan in 18 months

The Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for two blasts in Kabul, the group's Amaq news agency reported. It was not immediately clear which of the blasts IS claimed.

Violence in Afghanistan has intensified in recent weeks as both Afghan forces and Taliban militants attempt to increase their leverage in ongoing peace talks.

U.S. and Taliban representatives have held several rounds of peace talks since last year and Zalmay Khalilzad, the U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan, is currently in Kabul to consult on the next steps in the process ahead of a new round of talks in Qatar next week.

© RFE/RL

While no agreement has been reached, both sides have reported progress in the talks.

The Taliban, however, has refused to meet with Kabul government officials whom they regard as U.S. puppets.

The Taliban controls or contests around half of the country, controlling more territory than any time since the U.S.-led invasion in 2001 ousted the group from power.

The July 25 attack is the 13th in Kabul city alone since the beginning of the year, leaving more than 70 dead and over 510 others injured.

On the same day outside of the capital, nine civilians -- six women and three children -- were killed and four were wounded in a roadside bombing in the eastern province of Nangarhar, the provincial governor's office said in a statement.

The roadside bomb struck a minibus carrying a family that was heading to a wedding, according to the statement. The attack occurred in Nangarhar's Khogyani district.

Are the Taliban so stupid as to attack their own people knowing it will turn them against them? It's notable that the US and its allies are renowned for bombing weddings, schools and hospitals.

In the northern province of Takhar, at least 35 police officers were killed in a Taliban attack on security facilities. At least 12 people, including six police officers, were also injured in an hours-long gunbattle that took place in the Ishkamish district, former district Governor Sayed Mehrabuddin said.

There are 18 candidates competing for the presidency including current incumbent Ashraf Ghani, who is seeking a second term.

All of them are men, including a former warlord.

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Ukraine "should think of the consequences" after its security service (SBU) detained the Russian-flagged tanker Nika Spirit (also known as 'Neyma'), the Russian foreign ministry told media on Thursday.

However, if Russian nationals "were taken hostage" by Ukraine, "it would amount to a grave violation of international law, and ramifications will follow shortly," it added.

Several hours later the Russian embassy in Ukraine announced that "the crew is heading home, while the vessel remains in Izmail," a port city in southwestern Ukraine. The Russian Foreign Ministry then said that ten sailors from the Neyma had safely left Ukrainian territory.

The SBU explained the release by saying that the Russian sailors "didn't violate maritime law or Ukrainian legislation, therefore there were no grounds for their detention."

Meanwhile, senior Russian lawmakers labeled the incident "an act of piracy" and accused the outgoing Kiev government of staging "a provocation." Konstantin Zatulin, a high-ranking member of the State Duma's committee in charge of post-Soviet states, told the media the detention will damage already-strained relations between Moscow and Kiev.

By doing what it has done, Ukraine will be "nowhere close" to achieving the release of 24 sailors currently on trial in Russia for an alleged violation of maritime borders during last year's Kerch Strait incident.

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