A female police officer was killed in an attack by unidentified gunmen in the city of Jalalabad in eastern Nangarhar province on Thursday morning, the provincial police spokesman Farid Khan said.

The incident happened at around 7:30 am local time in Jalalabad's District 3, he said.

Basina, the policewoman, was first wounded in the attack and died in hospital, said Khan.

“She served in police rank for the last 15 years and the incident happened when she was on her way to the police headquarters,” he said, adding that “two suspected were arrested over the incident.”

No group, including the Taliban, has claimed responsibility for the attack. 

Targeted attacks have sharply increased in Nangarhar province. On Tuesday, three women working for the polio vaccination campaign were killed in two separate attacks in the city of Jalalabad.

One of the incidents happened at around 11:30 am local time in Majboor Abad area Jalalabad’s district 4 in which unidentified gunmen killed a woman worker of polio vaccination campion. 

In another similar incident less than one hour after the first attack, unidentified gunmen killed two other female workers of the campaign in Lal Qasim Agha area in Jalalabad’s PD7, sources said. 

According to hospital officials, the workers named Basira, Samina and Negina. 

On Wednesday, the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) said that at least 36 Afghan women have been killed or wounded since the start of January, as violence continues to surge around the country.  

According to the AIHRC, from the figures, 14 women were killed and 22 more were wounded. 

“We call on the UN to use its leverage on both sides so that these acts of violence are stopped,” said Zabihullah Farhang, spokesman for the AIHRC. 

Kabul and Nangarhar provinces have been the most affected provinces during this period in terms of targeted killings. 

Afghan government officials say the Taliban are behind these attacks; however, the Taliban has persistently rejected any involvement.