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KABUL — A suicide bomber on Wednesday killed at least 26 people, many of them teenagers, after detonating a device among a crowd of people in Kabul who were celebrating the Persian new year holiday, officials said.

There were distressing scenes at the hospital opposite the blast site where grief-stricken relatives screamed as they clutched and hugged the bloodied bodies of their loved ones, on what is normally a day of celebration for Afghan families. 

The terror group Daesh’s local franchise in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the assault in the heavily Shiite neighbourhood — the fifth suicide bombing in the Afghan capital in recent weeks — via the messaging app Telegram. 

Another 18 people were wounded in the blast, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said, "all of them civilians".

There were fears the figure could rise, however, with the health ministry giving a higher toll of 31 people killed and 65 wounded. Afghan officials often give conflicting tolls in the wake of attacks.

The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his device in front of Kabul University and the hospital that was opposite, Rahimi said. The blast could be heard several kilometres away.

Witnesses told police the bomb had been hidden inside a drum carried by the attacker, Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid told AFP. 

But Rahimi said an investigation indicated he had been wearing a suicide vest. 

The blast occurred less than 200 metres from the Karte Sakhi shrine where many Afghans gather every year to mark Nawrooz, which is the traditional Persian new year holiday but is considered un-Islamic by Muslim fundamentalists. 

The bomber had been unable to reach it due to heavy security for Nawrooz, so he "detonated himself among teenagers returning from there", Kabul police chief Mohammad Daud Amin told Tolo News.

One of the wounded told Tolo from his hospital bed that immediately before the blast he had heard drum beats as people danced to music in the street. 

Bloodstains could be seen among scattered shoes and other belongings at the site of the attack. 

Outside the hospital morgue, a visibly distressed man knelt next to several bodies, cursing the Afghan government, before he was pulled away by a relative and a medical worker.

Another body lay on a stretcher in the hospital compound, a pair of red, white and blue tennis shoes poking out from underneath a covering.

 'Crime against humanity' 

Daesh, which regularly targets Shiites in an attempt to stir up sectarian violence in Sunni-majority Afghanistan, has attacked the same shrine once before.

In October 2016, its gunmen killed 18 people gathered to mark Ashura, an important date for many Muslims, especially Shiites.

President Ashraf Ghani, whose government has been repeatedly lambasted for its inability to protect its citizens, condemned the latest attack in a statement as a "crime against humanity".

Taliban and Daesh militants have increasingly targeted the war-weary city in recent months as US and Afghan forces ramp up air strikes and ground offensives against the groups. Wednesday's blast comes days after a Taliban suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden car in Kabul, causing multiple casualties. 

Some Western and Afghan security experts believe the Haqqani Network, a hard-line wing of the Taliban, has been behind some of the attacks in Kabul in recent months, including those claimed by Daesh. 

The Taliban, Afghanistan's largest militant group, faces growing pressure to take up a recent offer by Afghan President Ashraf Ghani of peace talks to end the 16-year war, but so far it has given only a muted response. 

 Little incentive for talks 

This latest suicide attack underscores the growing challenge facing Afghan and foreign forces to protect the already heavily militarised city. 

General John Nicholson, who leads US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, recently told reporters that protecting Kabul was a priority for foreign troops.

But he acknowledged that preventing further attacks would be challenging in the sprawling city that is poorly mapped and extremely porous. 

The latest attack comes as US Chairman of Joint Chiefs of Staff General Joseph Dunford visits Afghanistan to assess the military campaign against insurgents — weeks before the start of the spring fighting season, which is expected to be particularly bloody this year. 

Despite calls for the Taliban to sit down with the Afghan government, the group — which has been resurgent since the withdrawal of US-led NATO combat troops at the end of 2014, taking back territory and devastating Afghanistan's beleaguered security forces — appears to have few reasons to negotiate.

In October, insurgents controlled or influenced nearly half of Afghanistan's districts — double the percentage in 2015, the US government's office of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in January.

Over the same period, the watchdog said, the number of districts under Afghan government control or influence fell to its lowest level since December 2015.

Kabul - A suicide bomber blew himself up in front of Kabul University on Wednesday, killing at least 26 civilians and wounding 18 others, an official said, as Afghans celebrate the Persian new year holiday.

"The attacker detonated his vest in a crowd of people. They were mostly people celebrating Nawrooz," interior ministry deputy spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP.

AUSTIN/SCHERTZ, Texas — A package bomb blew up at a FedEx distribution centre near San Antonio on Tuesday, hastening investigators to seek the public's help in determining if there is any link to four homemade bombs that have rocked the state capital of Austin this month.

Hundreds of federal investigators joined local authorities in probing the bombings, which the White House said do not appear to be linked to terrorism.

The latest blast knocked a female employee off her feet, police said. The package, filled with nails and metal shrapnel, exploded shortly after midnight local time (05:00 GMT) at the FedEx Corp sorting facility in Schertz, Texas, about 105 km south of Austin, the San Antonio Fire Department said on Twitter. Investigators were also examining a second suspicious package at the same facility, San Antonio Police Chief Bill McManus told reporters.

"There was one other package that we believe was also loaded with an explosive device that they are looking at right now," McManus told reporters in Schertz, about 30 km northeast of San Antonio.

In Sunset Valley, a town within Austin, police surrounded a FedEx store on suspicion it was linked to the Schertz bombing.

"The FBI is currently investigating a confirmed link between packages involved in the Austin bombing investigation and a mail delivery office in Sunset Valley. It appears that the source of the suspect packages was a private package delivery office in Sunset Valley," Sunset Valley police said in a statement.

Even with the apparent Austin link, it remained unknown whether the latest incident was the work of what Austin police said could be a serial bomber who is responsible for the four earlier devices that killed two people and injured four others.

The blast at the FedEx facility in Schertz was the fifth in the state in the last 18 days and the first involving a commercial parcel service.

"We are committed to bringing perpetrators of these heinous acts to justice. There is no apparent nexus to terrorism at this time," White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said in a Twitter post.

Investigators were trying to come up with a theory or intelligence regarding the motive for the bombings or identity of the bomber or bombers, a US security official and a law enforcement official told Reuters.

The FBI was investigating the FedEx package explosion as if there were a connection to the Austin bombings, the law enforcement official said. Both sources declined to be identified.

Federal authorities at the scene offered few details, telling reporters their probe was in the early stages and that the building would be secured before investigators could gather evidence.

Authorities offered a $115,000 reward to anyone providing information leading the arrest or conviction of the culprit, and public urged the bomber to communicate with them to explain the motivation for the attacks.

We need the public's help right now," said James Smith, the assistant special agent in charge of the FBI's San Antonio office.

MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin struck a softer tone towards the West on Monday after winning his biggest ever election victory, saying he had no desire for an arms race and would do everything he could to resolve differences with other countries.

Putin's victory, which comes at a time when his relations with the West are on a hostile trajectory, will extend his political dominance of Russia by six years to 2024. That will make him the longest-serving ruler since Soviet dictator Josef Stalin and has raised Western fears of spiralling confrontation.

But Putin, 65, used a Kremlin meeting with the candidates he soundly defeated in Sunday's election to signal his desire to focus on domestic, not international, matters, and to try to raise living standards by investing more in education, infrastructure and health while reducing defence spending.

“Nobody plans to accelerate an arms race,” said Putin.

“We will do everything to resolve all the differences with our partners using political and diplomatic channels.”

His comments, which are likely to be heard with some scepticism in the West following years of confrontation, mark a change in tone after a bellicose election campaign during which Putin unveiled new nuclear weapons he said could strike almost any point in the world.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel wished Putin success and called for more dialogue. But Russia is currently at odds with the West over Syria and Ukraine; allegations of cyber attacks and meddling in foreign elections; and the poisoning in Britain of a former Russian spy and his daughter. As a result, relations with the West have hit a post-Cold-War low. 

Free and fair?

With nearly 100 per cent of the votes counted, the Central Election Commission (CEC), announced that Putin, who has run Russia as president or prime minister since 1999, had won 76.69 per cent of the vote.

With more than 56 million votes, it was Putin’s biggest ever win and the largest by any post-Soviet Russian leader.

But the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), a rights watchdog, said restrictions on fundamental freedoms, as well as on candidate registration, had restricted the scope for political engagement and crimped competition.

“Choice without real competition, as we have seen here, is not real choice,” the OSCE said in a statement.

The CEC said earlier on Monday it had not registered any serious complaints of violations. 

Backed by state TV and the ruling party, and credited with an approval rating of around 80 per cent, Putin faced no credible threat from a field of seven challengers.

His nearest rival, Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, won 11.8 per cent while nationalist Vladimir Zhirinovsky got 5.6 per cent. His most vocal opponent, anti-corruption campaigner Alexei Navalny, was barred from running.

Navalny, who had called on voters to boycott the election, urged his supporters not to lose heart and said his campaign had succeeded in lowering the turnout, accusing authorities of being forced to falsify the numbers.

Exit strategy?

Near-final figures put turnout at 67.7 per cent, just shy of the 70 per cent the Kremlin was reported to have been aiming for before the vote.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov played down suggestions that tensions with the West had boosted turnout, saying the result showed that Russians were united behind Putin’s plans to develop the country. He said Putin would spend the day fielding calls of congratulation, meeting supporters, and holding talks with the losing candidates.

Chinese President Xi Jinping was among the first to offer his congratulations to Putin, but Heiko Maas, Germany’s new foreign minister, questioned whether there had been fair political competition.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel later told Putin: “It is more important than ever that we pursue dialogue and promote relations between our countries and peoples,” according to a German government statement. 

Putin also spoke to French President Emmanuel Macron and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by phone. Macron wished Russia and its people success in modernising the country, while Erdogan spoke with Putin about joint efforts by Moscow and Ankara to resolve the Syria crisis.

A White House spokesman said the United States was not surprised by the outcome of the election and no phone call was scheduled between Putin and US President Donald Trump.

How long Putin wants to stay in power remains uncertain.

The constitution limits the president to two successive terms, obliging him to step down at the end of his new mandate. 

Asked after his re-election if he would run for yet another term in the future, Putin laughed off the idea.

“Let’s count. What, do you think I will sit [in power] until I’m 100 years old?” he said, calling the question “funny”. 

Although Putin has six years to consider a possible successor, uncertainty about his future is a potential source of instability in a fractious ruling elite that only he can keep in check. 

“The longer he stays in power, the harder it will be to exit,” said Andrei Kolesnikov, senior fellow at the Carnegie Moscow Center, a think tank. “How can he abandon such a complicated system, which is essentially his personal project?”

PARIS — French President Emmanuel Macron wished Vladimir Putin success on Monday in "modernising Russia" after his reelection, but urged Moscow to shed light on the "unacceptable" attempted assassination of an ex-spy in Britain.

Macron also expressed concern over the war in Syria, in which Moscow plays a key role as the regime's closest ally, in a carefully-worded statement that steered clear of congratulating Putin directly for his election win.

"The president offered Russia and the Russian people, in the name of France, his wishes for success in the political, democratic, economic and social modernisation of the country," the statement said.

"He stressed his commitment to a constructive dialogue between Russia, France and Europe." 

But the statement maintained Macron's tough line on the March 4 poisoning of a former double agent living in southwest England, as Western allies backed Britain in the escalating row.

"The president called on Russian authorities to shed light on the responsibilities for the unacceptable attack in Salisbury, and to firmly regain control of any programmes that have not been declared to the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons," it said.

"He informed the Russian president of measures taken to ensure the security of our citizens," it added, without elaborating.

On Syria, Macron expressed "great concern" over the situation in Afrin — captured by Turkish-led fighters Sunday — and in Eastern Ghouta which has been pummelled by the Moscow-allied regime.

He "called on Russia to do its best to stop the fighting and civilian casualties".

Macron is balancing tricky priorities when it comes to Russia, regarding a relationship with Putin as crucial to resolving conflicts in Syria and Ukraine.

He has made the case for keeping a dialogue open between Russia and the West, and on Monday again stressed that the relationship was "essential to Europe's security" and in everyone's interest.

Last week, however, Macron announced he would take unspecified measures in the coming days over the spy poisoning as he joined Britain, Germany and the US in pointing the finger at Russia.

On Ukraine, the statement said France "remained firmly committed to the full reestablishment of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders".

Paris  - Governments should focus on "greener" policies to improve the supply and quality of water as climate change and a growing global population threaten the water security of billions, the United Nations said on Monday.

In its 2018 World Water Development Report, the UN calculated that an estimated 3.6 billion people -- nearly half the global population -- live in areas where water can be scarce at least one month per year.

And this number could rise to 5.7 billion by 2050, the report warned.

"If we do nothing, some five billion people will be living in areas with poor access to water by 2050," said UNESCO Director General, Audrey Azoulay, at the presentation of the report in Brasilia.

"This report proposes solutions that are based on nature to manage water better. This is a major task all of us need to accomplish together responsibly so as to avoid water-related conflicts," she said.

Global water use has increased by a factor of six over the past century "and continues to grow steadily at a rate of about one percent per year," the report said.

And use is expected to rise significantly due to population growth, economic development and changing consumption patterns, among other factors.

"The vast majority of the growing demand for water will occur in countries with developing or emerging economies," the report said.

At the same time, the global water cycle was intensifying due to climate change, "with wetter regions generally becoming wetter and drier regions becoming even drier."

- 'Ecosystem-friendly' -

So-called "grey" or man-made water infrastructure -- such as reservoirs, irrigation canals and treatment plants -- were no longer sufficient to meet these challenges, said the report's editor-in-chief, Richard Connor.

There is increasingly limited room to build more reservoirs because of silting, environmental concerns and restrictions, as well as the fact that in many developed countries the most cost-effective and viable sites had already been used, the UN argued.

"In many cases, more ecosystem-friendly forms of water storage, such as natural wetlands, improvements in soil moisture and more efficient recharge of groundwater, could be more sustainable and cost-effective than traditional grey infrastructure such as dams."

"Nature plays a unique and fundamental role in regulating the different functions of the water cycle," Connor said.

Nature-based solutions "can act as regulator, cleaner and water supplier".

The report said that green solutions were already showing great potential.

New York, for example, has protected the three largest watersheds that supply water to the city since the late 1990s through forest preservation programmes and paying farmers to take on environmentally friendly practices.

"Disposing of the largest unfiltered water supply in the US, the city now saves more than $300 million (245 million euros) yearly on water sea treatment and maintenance costs," the UN said.

Another example was China's "Sponge City" project to improve water availability.

By 2020, China plans to build 16 pilot projects across the country with the aim of recycling 70 percent of rainwater through greater soil permeation, retention and storage, water purification and the restoration of adjacent wetlands.

- Feed more people -

"These solutions are cost-effective" and not more expensive than traditional systems, said Connor.

The UN pointed to estimates that agricultural production could be increased by about 20 percent worldwide if greener water management practices were used.

In addition to improving water availability and quality, "it is possible to increase agricultural production per hectare with better water management" and thus feed more people, said Stefan Uhlenbrook, programme coordinator at the UN World Water Assessment Forum.

"Green" infrastructure also helps fight erosion, drought and flood risks while boosting soil quality and vegetation.

And indigenous peoples could be involved in implementation, something which was not the case in "grey" infrastructure," the report said.

At the moment, however, only "marginal" use was made of such nature-based solutions.

"Accurate figures are not available", but investments in these techniques "appear to be less than one percent... of total investment in infrastructure and water resource management," according to the report.

They "are often perceived as less effective" because they are less visible, Connor said.

Moscow - Vladimir Putin was Monday set for another six years in power after his landslide victory in Russia's presidential election but so far only close allies have congratulated him as Moscow's relations with the West disintegrate.

Putin, who has ruled Russia for almost two decades, recorded his best election performance with 76.67 percent of the vote but rejected the possibility of staying in power indefinitely.

The opposition said the results were rigged, reporting ballot stuffing and other cases of alleged fraud as the Kremlin pushed for a high turnout to give greater legitimacy to Putin's historic fourth term.

Putin, who has extended his power until at least 2024 and is already Russia's longest-serving leader since Stalin, ruled out remaining president for life.

"Listen to me. It seems to me that what you are saying is a bit funny," he told reporters Sunday night when asked if he saw himself running for president again in 2030.

"What, am I going to sit here until I am 100 years old? No."

The Russian strongman ran against seven other candidates, but his most vocal critic Alexei Navalny was barred from the ballot for legal reasons and the final outcome was never in doubt.

"I see in this (result) the confidence and hope of our people," Putin said in an address to a crowd of supporters on a square next to the Kremlin after exit polls put him on track for a resounding victory.

Turnout was at more than 67 percent as authorities used both the carrot and the stick to boost engagement in the polls.

Selfie competitions, giveaways, food festivals and children's entertainers were laid on at polling stations in a bid to create a festive atmosphere around the election.

But employees of state and private companies reported coming under pressure to vote.

According to central election commission data with 99.8 percent of ballots counted, Putin took 76.67 percent of the vote, well ahead of his nearest competitor Communist Party candidate Pavel Grudinin, who was on 11.79 percent.

Ultra-nationalist firebrand Vladimir Zhirinovsky took around 5.66 percent, former reality TV presenter Ksenia Sobchak was on 1.67 percent, while veteran liberal politician Grigory Yavlinsky received just over 1 percent of the vote.

- 'Demand justice' -

Navalny -- who called on his supporters to boycott the "fake" vote and sent more than 33,000 observers across the country to see how official turnout figures differed from those of monitors -- said there had been "unprecedented violations".

Navalny's opposition movement and the non-governmental election monitor Golos reported ballot stuffing, repeat voting and Putin supporters being bussed into polling stations en masse.

But the electoral commission dismissed most concerns, saying monitors sometimes misinterpret what they see.

Runner-up Grudinin said the elections had been "dishonest."

NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden, who has lived in Russia after leaking classified information about the US government's surveillance programmes, tweeted a picture apparently showing ballot stuffing in a Russian school.

"The ballot stuffing seen today in Moscow and elsewhere in the Russian election is an effort to steal the influence of 140+ million people," he said.

"Demand justice; demand laws and courts that matter."

- Xi congratulates Putin -

The election was held as Russia faces increasing isolation on the world stage over a spy poisoning in Britain and a fresh round of US sanctions just as it gears up for the football World Cup in the summer.

Among the few leaders to congratulate Putin so far was Chinese President Xi Jinping, who has just been handed a second term himself and has gained a path to indefinite rule after presidential term limits were lifted last week.

"China is willing to work with Russia to keep promoting China-Russia relations to a higher level, provide driving force for respective national development in both countries, and promote regional and global peace and tranquility," Xi said.

In Latin America, the presidents of the leftist regimes in Venezuela and Bolivia both effusively congratulated Putin on his "overwhelming" victory.

Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro also commended "the glorious Russian people for its display of civic duty" while Bolivia's Evo Morales said Putin's victory "guarantees geopolitical equilibrium and world peace before the onslaught of imperialism".

Since first being elected president in 2000, Putin has stamped his total authority on the world's biggest country, muzzling opposition, putting television under state control and reasserting Moscow's standing abroad.

The 65-year-old former KGB officer used an otherwise lacklustre presidential campaign to emphasise Russia's role as a major world power, boasting of its "invincible" new nuclear weapons in a pre-election speech.

Putin's previous Kremlin term was marked by a crackdown on the opposition after huge protests, the Ukraine conflict, military intervention in Syria and the introduction of Western sanctions that contributed to a fall in living standards.

- Nerve agent attack row -

In the runup to the vote, a new crisis broke out with the West as Britain implicated Putin in the poisoning of former double agent Sergei Skripal with a Soviet-designed nerve agent.

In response, London expelled 23 Russian diplomats, prompting a tit-for-tat move by Moscow. Also this week, Washington hit Russia with sanctions for trying to influence the 2016 US election.

After his victory, Putin dismissed claims Russia was behind the poisoning in Britain as "drivel, rubbish, nonsense" but said Moscow was ready to cooperate with London in the probe.

The president has said he will use his fourth term to address a litany of domestic problems including widespread poverty and poor healthcare.

MOSCOW — From frustration with corruption and poverty to Moscow’s showdown with the West, Russians shared their concerns as they voted in Sunday’s presidential election that is set to extend President Vladimir Putin’s Kremlin term to 2024.

“Of course I’m for Putin, he’s a leader,” said Olga Matyunina, a 65-year-old retired economist.

“After he brought Crimea back, he became a hero to me. Last election I didn’t vote for Putin. These last three or four years we’ve had sanctions, but we’ve built a lot, we’ve opened a lot of new factories, inflation is low.”

“I am for Putin. There is no alternative to him,” said Valentina Popova, a 77-year-old Moscow retiree.

“I respect him for his foreign policies, otherwise Russia would perish. There’s a lot that needs to be done inside the country.”

Natalya Kononova, 41, a senior cashier, Moscow: “I am for Putin. We trust him. And voting is my civic duty.”

Iraida Korablina, 67, Moscow: “I am for Putin. The foreign polices are correct although inside the country a camarilla is calling the shots.”

Istra votes Putin 

Andrei Zubov, 42, the town of Istra some 60 kilometres northwest of Moscow: “Normal life and business only began under Putin. Isolation is not a threat to Russia and is even a boon for the development of our own market.”

Lyudmila Shuda, a 66-old retiree, Istra: “On the whole he is pushing through the right policies. He is warning the West that they better be nice to us.”

Valeriya Ivanova, 23, Istra: “Of course, my husband and me voted for Putin. How would we live without him? It’s scary! He is our trusted guy and he can defend us.”

Sergei Stalnov, 46, a car mechanic, Istra: “He got Russia off its knees. Finally they started to listen to us.”

‘Things get worse’ 

Sergei Yakovlev, 47, Saint Petersburg: “I am not expecting anything good. I voted for [Communist candidate Pavel] Grudinin, but it’s clear that it’ll be Putin. He has no programme of action, things keep getting worse. He will keep sitting on oil reserves without changing anything until everything ultimately disintegrates in every area.”

Antonina Kurchatova, 40, Saint Petersburg: “I voted Putin. But with a different feeling unlike before. Right now I am hoping that things just don’t get worse. I very much like his foreign policies, he’s doing everything right, but as far as the economy is concerned, everything is terrible. I am eagerly awaiting constructive economic measures and a change of government.”

Lilia Kartashova, 70, Saint Petersburg: “Only Putin. I am expecting only good things. Remember what kind of country he took over from [Boris] Yeltsin —ruin, no one respected us and now? He is doing everything right. “

Boris Limarev, a 39-year-old manager, Saint Petersburg: “I will not go to vote. What for? It’s clear to everyone who will be elected. That’s why there’s no desire to vote, there’s a feeling nothing depends on you.” 

His wife Anna Limareva, a 35-year-old hairdresser: “I am very disappointed by what has been going on lately. That is why I don’t want to vote for Putin. And the rest of the candidates are clowns.”

KABUL — A Taliban car bomb killed at least three people and wounded two in the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday in an apparent attack on a foreign contractor company that came despite a further tightening in security across the city, officials said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said all those killed and wounded in the explosion were civilians, with no casualties among the contractors.

Witnesses said the true casualty toll was higher and that, like countless other attacks in Kabul, its main victims appeared to be ordinary people going about their daily lives.

"All those killed were barbers or shoeshine men. I was horrified when I saw their bodies," said Mohammad Osman, who was nearby when the explosion shattered buildings and said he had seen four or five bodies on the ground.

A Taliban statement claimed responsibility for the attack, which it said targeted "foreign invaders". It said the attack destroyed two foreign vehicles and killed between six and 10 people, but it denied any Afghan civilians were killed.

"More such attacks will be carried out," the statement said.

While the latest blast was not on the scale of others that have killed scores of people recently, the constant stream of attacks in Kabul has undermined confidence in the Western-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani.

Earlier this week, General John Nicholson, the top US commander in Afghanistan, said security in Kabul would be "the main effort" for international powers helping Afghan defence and security forces.

The extra security in Kabul has turned the city centre into a fortified zone of high concrete blast walls, barbed wire and police checkpoints and security forces say they have intercepted numerous attacks before they take place.

However, Saturday's incident underlined the fact that insurgent groups are still able to evade checks and carry out attacks in the city streets.

Ghani has offered peace talks with the Taliban, who have been fighting to drive out foreign forces and re-establish their version of strict Islamic law to Afghanistan, but the movement has so far shown no sign of accepting the offer.

Moscow - Russia announced Saturday it will expel 23 British diplomats and halt the activities of the British Council in response to London's "provocative" measures over the poisoning of a former Russian double agent and his daughter.

"Twenty three diplomatic staff at the British embassy in Moscow are declared persona non grata and to be expelled within a week," the foreign ministry said in a statement after summoning the British ambassador Laurie Bristow.

It said the move was a response to Britain's "provocative actions" and "baseless accusations over the incident in Salisbury on March 4," referring to the poisoning of Sergei and Yulia Skripal with a nerve agent developed in the Soviet Union, which Britain has blamed on Russia.

Russia also said it was halting the activities of the British Council, Britain's international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities, across the country.

"Due to the unregulated status of the British Council in Russia, its activity is halted," the foreign ministry said.

And the ministry had also warned Britain that "if further unfriendly actions are taken towards Russia, the Russian side retains the right to take other answering measures."