Damaged vehicles are seen at the site of a car bombing in Qalat, capital of Zabul Province, on September 19.
At least 50 people have been killed in an air strike and a car bombing in Afghanistan, as U.S. peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad prepares to brief U.S. lawmakers on his peace talks with the Taliban.
The September 19 incidents come after the collapse of negotiations between Washington and the militants and just days ahead of a presidential election.
Officials said
at least 30 civilians were killed and 40 wounded in an air strike conducted by the Afghan security forces, backed by U.S. air support, in eastern Afghanistan, while
at least 20 people were killed and almost 100 wounded in a car bombing in the war-wracked country's south.
The air strike was aimed at destroying a hideout used by Islamic State militants, but it
accidentally targeted farmers near a field, three government officials said.
Sohrab Qaderi, a provincial council member in eastern Nangarhar Province, said a drone strike killed 30 workers in a pine-nut field and at least 40 others were injured.
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