The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has reauthorized the use of “cyanide bombs” to kill wild animals such as coyotes, foxes and wild dogs in an effort to protect livestock. 

EPA officials made the change in a recent interim decision, authorizing the use of M-44 chemical trap devices by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Wildlife Services department as well as state agencies in Texas, New Mexico, South Dakota, Montana and Wyoming. 

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Wildlife Services kills wild animals every year in an effort to protect farmers and livestock including cattle, sheep and goats. 

Environmentalists and critics, however, argue the method is inhumane and has led to people being injured in the past. 

“Cyanide traps can’t be used safely by anyone, anywhere,” Collette Adkins, the director of carnivore conservation at the Center for Biological Diversity said in a statement on Wednesday. “While the EPA added some restrictions, these deadly devices have caused too much harm to remain in use. We need a permanent nationwide ban to protect people, pets and imperiled wildlife from this poison.”

In a previous study, the group also noted that more than 99 percent of comments made during the public comment period on the EPA’s decision whether or not to reauthorize the use of the so-called “cyanide bombs” opposed the move.

In 2017 the traps reportedly temporarily blinded a child and killed three family dogs as well as a wolf in Oregon. Oregon has since banned the use of M-44 devices in the state.

The EPA has since added new restrictions.

As a matter of safety, the EPA says it only uses the M-44 devices “on or within 7 miles of a ranch unit or allotment where losses due to predation by wild canids are occurring.” The devices are required to be removed if there is no evidence they are working in the area.

Their use is also not allowed in national forests or protected areas except in cases where they are used to protect endangered species, according to the EPA’s decision.

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New Zealand’s parliament on Thursday advanced a proposal to decriminalize abortion. 

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The legislation, which would be the country’s first abortion law change in more than 40 years, passed its first reading 94-23, ABC News reported.

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Justice Minister Andrew Little announced the proposed change Monday, saying in a statement “abortion is the only medical procedure that is still a crime in New Zealand. It’s time for this to change.”

He said in the statement that it would remove the law from the Crimes Act and bring the country’s law “into line with many other developed countries.” 

The statement said the legislation would remove statutory tests for health practitioners and for women who are not more than 20 weeks pregnant, which, per ABC, means that women who are less than 20 weeks pregnant would not need approval to have an abortion. 

Current laws say that abortion is only permitted if two doctors agree that the pregnancy presents a risk to the mother’s life or health or the incest cases a “mental sub normality,” or fetal abnormality.

“Safe abortion should be treated and regulated as a health issue,” Little said in the statement. “A woman has the right to choose what happens to her body.”

Family Planning, a New Zealand reproductive health organization, said in a statement Monday that the proposed law was a “good news/bad news story.”

“The good news is that the Government has committed to reforming abortion law, the bad news is the missed chance to make New Zealand a country with a legal framework based on human rights and best clinical practice,” the statement said.

International pizza chain Domino’s has reportedly spent $8.5 million to stockpile imported ingredients in case they’re not available in the event of a no-deal Brexit.

The U.K. branch of the restaurant chain said Tuesday that a no-deal Brexit “carries the increased risk of disruption to raw material supplies into the UK and foreign exchange volatility which could increase food costs.”

While Domino’s buys most of its produce, including flour and cheese, within the U.K., a third of its supplies — including tomato sauce, frozen chicken, pineapple and tuna — come from outside the country, according to CNN.

The chain said it had spent the money to implement “a series of measures to minimize the impact of supply chain disruption” because “the probability of this risk has increased.”

The news comes as newly sworn-in U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson, a staunch advocate of Brexit, insists the U.K. will leave the European Union by Oct. 31, regardless of whether a deal is reached, leading to heightened fears among companies that stand to be hurt by the move.

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During his leadership campaign, Johnson promised that the U.K. will leave the EU on Oct. 31 “do or die.”

Other restaurants, including McDonald’s and Pret a Manger, have joined U.K. supermarkets in warning of “significant” disruptions to their supply chains if a no-deal Brexit were to take place, CNN reports.

The British Department of Health and Social Care said in June that stockpiling six weeks’ above normal business inventory was appropriate to prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

Chinese officials issued their most forceful warning thus far against the organizers of protests that have roiled Hong Kong, claiming Tuesday that the demonstrators were “criminals” who should be careful not to “play with fire,” according to Reuters.

“I would like to warn all of the criminals: don’t ever misjudge the situation and mistake our restraint for weakness,” the Chinese government’s Hong Kong and Macau Affairs Office said in a document issued during a Beijing briefing, according to the news service.

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The protests began weeks ago in response to a bill that would allow some residents of Hong Kong to be extradited to the Chinese mainland, but since Chief Executive Carrie Lam suspended the measure, protesters’ focus has shifted to police brutality, calling for Lam’s resignation and what they say is an erosion of the city’s autonomy from China.

Beijing said that the protests, which have topped 1 million people at their peak, were masterminded by violent radicals with “some kind-hearted citizens who have been misguided and coerced to join.”

“We would like to make clear to the very small group of unscrupulous and violent criminals and the dirty forces behind them: those who play with fire will perish by it,” the office added.

Previously, China accused the U.S. of “creating” the protests after Secretary of State Mike PompeoMichael (Mike) Richard PompeoChina: ‘Criminals’ pushing Hong Kong to ‘dangerous abyss’ Trump expands Venezuela sanctions into embargo Senators press Poland to repay victims for property stolen by Nazis MORE expressed hopes Beijing would “do the right thing” in response.

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“It’s clear that Mr. Pompeo has put himself in the wrong position and still regards himself as the head of the CIA,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying said at a news briefing last week. “He might think that violent activities in Hong Kong are reasonable because after all, this is the creation of the U.S.”

The Department of Justice (DOJ) said in a court filing Tuesday that it believes the House Oversight and Reform Committee hasn’t provided a clear legislative purpose for subpoenaing President TrumpDonald John TrumpFormer White Supremacist calls on Trump to stop using fear to motivate people Walmart employee urges workers to strike until the company’s stores stop selling guns Biden: Violent video games ‘not healthy’ but aren’t ‘in and of itself why we have this carnage’ MORE’s records from his private accountant and that the court should invalidate the subpoena.

In a brief filed in the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is considering the Democratic subpoena for records from Trump’s accountant Mazars, DOJ attorneys argued that issues involving separation of powers “are especially acute when litigation involves a congressional demand for the President’s information.”

And they said that the lawmakers need to provide a more specific legislative purpose for getting the documents, in light of the potential burden it could create for the president.

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“The separation-of-powers concerns arising from the President’s unique status likewise demand that the House (or at least the Committee) clearly identify a legitimate legislative purpose for seeking the President’s official or private records, including identifying with sufficient particularity the subject matter of potential legislation to which the information sought pertains,” the filing states.

The Justice Department argued that the House only recently voted to authorize the subpoena with a resolution that approved all “current and future” subpoenas relating to the president, but did “not articulate the legislative purposes to be served by any of these subpoenas.”

“The resolution’s authorization of all existing and future investigations and subpoenas reinforces the need for a clear statement of a valid legislative purpose to justify the specific subpoena and investigation concerning the President,” the government lawyers argued.

“The House’s lack of responsibility is sufficient reason for this Court to declare this subpoena invalid.”

The DOJ attorneys also pointed to a memo written by House Oversight and Reform Committee Chairman Elijah CummingsElijah Eugene CummingsThe Hill’s Morning Report – Mass shootings put spotlight on Trump, Congress Comey urges Trump to take a stand against racism after mass shootings Cummings invites Trump to visit Baltimore MORE (D-Md.) that laid out four topics of investigation for the panel as he issued the Mazars subpoena.

They argued that Cummings’s list “provides ‘strong reason to doubt,’ that the subpoena’s ‘real object’ was legitimate in light of ‘the particular subjectmatter.’”

The DOJ claims echo Trump’s attorneys’ argument that the subpoena acts as a form of law enforcement.

A three-judge panel on the appellate court heard arguments over the subpoena last month. U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta, an Obama appointee, ruled to uphold the subpoena earlier this year, a decision that the president’s lawyers are now appealing.

However, the appellate judges seemed dubious of some arguments presented by Trump attorney William Consovoy during oral arguments. They pointed to specific bills either passed or proposed by House lawmakers that could be assisted by the subpoenaed documents as showing a legislative purpose.

And they noted that Congress has long conducted oversight of the president.

House general counsel Douglas Letter also argued that the House Oversight panel has broad powers to investigate.

The judges had asked the Justice Department to present their views on the topic in the days after arguments were held. The decision came after Consovoy raised separation of powers issues to the panel but said he did not know what the DOJ’s stance was in the case.

The 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals has similarly asked the Justice Department to submit a brief as they weigh subpoenas issued by House Democratic chairpersons for Trump’s records from Deutsche Bank and Capital One.

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This is the first time the Justice Department has publicly weighed in on the subpoena battle.

In the brief filed Tuesday, the DOJ attorneys further argued that the document requests would place a burden on Trump and prevent him from being able to do his job.

“Even if Congress does not intend its subpoenas to burden the President, there is a serious risk they will, especially where there are myriad simultaneous inquiries,” the filing reads.

“Unlike investigations in criminal and civil proceedings, which are confined to discrete controversies and subject to various protective measures, congressional committees may issue successive subpoenas in waves, making far-reaching demands that harry the President and distract his attention.”

And they said that while the document request is targeted at Mazars, “this subpoena is in practical effect no different from one served on the President.”

“Courts also must conduct a more searching review of pertinence and necessity when Congress seeks information from the President,” the government lawyers wrote. “As in related contexts, subpoenas that are ‘overly broad’ and seek information that is not ‘demonstrably critical’ should be deemed invalid when directed at the President’s records on account of his office.

“The more penetrating inquiry required under such circumstances thus likewise demands a clear, specific statement from Congress of the legislative purpose that it believes justifies its subpoena,” they added.

The owner of 8chan, the fringe messaging board that has been linked to a string of mass shootings this year, told lawmakers that he is coming back to the U.S. this week as Congress escalates its scrutiny of his website.

Jim Watkins, who has owned 8chan since 2015, told lawmakers in an email on Tuesday that he would be back in the U.S. by the next day.

His trip comes shortly after 8chan was implicated in its third mass shooting this year. The suspected shooter who killed 22 people and injured dozens others in a Walmart in El Paso, Texas, allegedly posted an anti-immigrant manifesto to 8chan before carrying out the attack on Saturday.

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House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie ThompsonBennie Gordon ThompsonHouse Homeland Security Committee calls for 8chan owner to testify Democrats call for Pelosi to cut recess short to address white nationalism Homeland Security Committee chair asks FBI for monthly briefings on domestic terrorism MORE (D-Miss.) and ranking member Mike RogersMichael (Mike) Dennis RogersHouse Homeland Security Committee calls for 8chan owner to testify 8chan’s providers face increased pressure to cut support US company will stop supporting 8chan after El Paso shooting MORE (R-Ala.) in a letter on Tuesday asked Watkins to testify about his website before Congress.

“I am on my way back to America as we speak,” Watkins wrote in response. He posted a screenshot of the email to Twitter, claiming it had been marked as spam when he sent it to the lawmakers.

“Today, I will be at my son’s school preparing him for the first day of school.”

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Watkins, who currently lives in the Philippines, added that he would be hopping on a plane with “several transfers on the way.”

“I am always available to talk to you by telephone,” he wrote. “Rest assured I am not an extremist. My telephone should work worldwide.”

Watkins did not immediately respond to The Hill’s follow-up questions about the timing of his trip. A House Homeland Security Committee spokesman said it’s too soon to anticipate next steps.

Thompson and Rogers in the letter asked Watkins to “provide testimony regarding 8chan’s efforts to investigate and mitigate the proliferation of extremist content, including white supremacist extremist content, on your website,” pointing out that the El Paso manifesto echoed similarly hateful and racist screeds posted before the massacres in Christchurch, New Zealand, and Poway, Calif.

8chan is currently offline after several of the services keeping it afloat severed ties with the company.

On Sunday night, Cloudflare, a major web security firm, set off a wave of activity when it stopped providing services to 8chan, effectively shutting down the website. On Wednesday, the parent company of the firm that stepped in to help 8chan announced that it would also no longer provide its services.

Epik, a web hosting firm known for helping extremist and hate websites stay online, said in a statement that it did not believe 8chan was capable of monitoring and enforcing its own rules.

“Upon careful consideration of the recent operating history of 8Chan, and in the wake of tragic news in El Paso and Dayton over the weekend, Epik has elected to not provide content delivery services to 8Chan,” Epik CEO Rob Monster said in a statement. “This is largely due to the concern of inadequate enforcement and the elevated possibility of violent radicalization on the platform.”

Watkins and his son Ron, who runs the platform, have said they’re working to restore 8chan’s services.

The top members of the House Homeland Security Committee on Tuesday called for the owner of fringe social networking platform 8chan to testify before Congress about the controversial website, which has been implicated in three mass shootings this year.

“The Committee on Homeland Security respectfully requests your presence to provide testimony regarding 8chan’s efforts to investigate and mitigate the proliferation of extremist content, including white supremacist extremist content, on your website,” Committee Chairman Bennie ThompsonBennie Gordon ThompsonPelosi says House recess could be cut short if Senate passes background checks bill Hillicon Valley: Senate Intel releases election security report | GOP blocks votes on election security bills | Gabbard sues Google over alleged censorship | Barr meets state AGs on tech antitrust concerns House committee leader questions Trump on efforts to secure elections MORE (D-Miss.) and ranking member Rep. Mike RogersMichael (Mike) Dennis Rogers8chan’s providers face increased pressure to cut support US company will stop supporting 8chan after El Paso shooting House committee leader questions Trump on efforts to secure elections MORE (R-Ala.) wrote in a letter to Jim Watkins, the website’s owner.

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The congressional panel has the power to subpoena a potential witness, but Watkins lives in the Philippines, which could pose a challenge for lawmakers.

Thompson and Rogers have for months been raising concerns about 8chan, an anonymous messaging board known as a breeding ground for white extremist and neo-Nazi ideologies. This is the most significant action the lawmakers have taken against the website to date.

Their demand comes a few days after the El Paso, Texas, shooting that left 22 people dead and two dozen injured. An anti-immigrant manifesto allegedly tied to the gunman was posted to 8chan shortly before the attack.

Similarly hateful messages were posted to 8chan before the Christchurch, New Zealand, shooting in which a gunman massacred 50 worshippers at two mosques and before the attack against a synagogue in Poway, Calif. 

Users have been known to praise white extremist shooters before and after shootings on 8chan’s notorious /pol/ board, regarded as a hotbed for some of 8chan’s darkest users. 

The website was founded by Fredrick Brennan in 2013 and gained popularity in 2014. But Brennan sold 8chan to Watkins, a U.S. army veteran who lives in the Philippians, in 2015.

Watkins runs the site with his son, Ron. 

In a rare move, Watkins spoke out in a video posted to 8chan’s Twitter on Tuesday. In it, he blamed the shootings over the weekend — one in El Paso and the other in Dayton, Ohio — on “insanity” and disputed characterizations of 8chan as “lawless.”

“My company takes a firm stand in helping law enforcement,” he said, noting that 8chan worked with law enforcement after the Texas shooting.

8chan is currently offline after multiple web services severed ties with the company. Watkins said they are still working to revive the messaging board. 

“Americans deserve to know what, if anything, you, as the owner and operator, are doing to address the proliferation of extremist content on 8chan,” Rogers and Thompson wrote in the letter.

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Sen. Elizabeth WarrenElizabeth Ann WarrenDemocratic candidates attack Biden at their own peril  Trump defends rhetoric after critics point finger over mass shooting Warren pushes for public broadband networks MORE (D-Mass.) would pay farmers to fight climate change if elected president under a new policy proposal released Wednesday.

The White House hopeful’s farm economy plan aims to jumpstart the agriculture sector by, in part, incentivizing the community to invest in sustainable farming practices. 

“As President, I will lead a full-out effort to decarbonize the agricultural sector by investing in our farmers and giving them the tools, research, and training they need to transform the sector,” Warren wrote.

Warren added that by working with farmers, the U.S. would be better positioned to achieve the emissions-cutting objective of the Green New Deal: to reach net-zero emissions by 2030.

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The agriculture sector is a top contributor to greenhouse gas emissions globally. Food production, deforestation and agriculture, which are all intrinsically linked, produce about 23 percent of all human-created greenhouse gas emissions across the world. In the U.S., agriculture is the source of 9 percent of all such emissions, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Through her plan, Warren would expand the Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Conservation Stewardship Program — a voluntary program that compensates farmers for conservation-focused farming practices. Warren’s plan would increase the current $1 billion investment in the program to $15 billion annually and increase the number of sustainable practices accepted under the program.

“This will put our future investment in conservation above the level we currently fund commodity programs. And I will support staff at USDA to empower them in the fight against climate change, from scientists in Washington all the way down to the county-level offices tailoring solutions to challenges in their local communities,” Warren wrote.

Other climate-focused aspects of her plan include committing $400 billion toward research and development of green manufacturing — another plan of Warren’s. The plan invests in innovations for decarbonizing agriculture practices.

Warren’s plan comes a day before the United Nations is set to release the latest in a series of climate change reports. The focus of Thursday’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report is emissions releases from land development and is anticipated to paint a dire picture of the greenhouse gas releases that come from agriculture and land usage. 

Other Democratic presidential candidates have also released plans to touch on the agriculture sector as a source of major emissions. Sen. Bernie SandersBernie SandersDemocratic candidates attack Biden at their own peril  Trump defends rhetoric after critics point finger over mass shooting Sanders: Democratic debate format is ‘demeaning’ MORE (I-Vt.) and former Rep. Beto O’Rourke (D-Texas) have also called for paying farmers to sustainably farm. In his own plan, former Vice President Joe BidenJoe BidenDemocratic candidates attack Biden at their own peril  Top Latina activist running for deep blue NY House seat Sanders: Democratic debate format is ‘demeaning’ MORE called for the U.S. agriculture sector to be the first in the world to achieve net-zero emissions by connecting them to new carbon markets.

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Lawmakers are working through the August recess to cobble together legislation on data privacy after missing a deadline they set to unveil a bill before the summer break.

Advocates for a federal data privacy standard are feeling a time crunch as they fret over the limited number of days left in this session and the upcoming 2020 elections.

Most importantly, California’s strict new privacy law is slated to take effect in January, raising the stakes for lawmakers who were hoping to pass a federal law before the stringent state-level rules go into place.

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“We’re waiting with bated breath to see what will come out of these discussions,” said Heather West, senior policy manager at privacy-focused tech company Mozilla. 

August is known as prime time for staffers to buckle down in their legislative discussions as they’re no longer bogged down by daily votes and hearings.

Industry watchers told The Hill that this month, they’re mainly paying attention to the ongoing negotiations between Sen. Roger WickerRoger Frederick WickerButtigieg releases B plan to address mass shooting ‘national security crisis’ Senators ask for committee vote on ‘red flag’ bills after shootings McConnell taps GOP senators to mull bipartisan legislation after shootings MORE (R-Miss.) and Sen. Maria CantwellMaria Elaine CantwellDemocrats express alarm over debate’s negative tone Schumer backs Pelosi as impeachment roils caucus Murray move raises impeachment pressure on Schumer MORE (D-Wash.), the chairman and ranking member of the tech-focused Senate Commerce Committee. 

Wicker and Cantwell began negotiating directly after the Washington Democrat earlier this year backed away from a larger Senate privacy working group, which includes other members on the Commerce Committee. 

“Everything got blown up there when it looked like Cantwell had decided that she would like to work on a bilateral basis with Sen. Wicker,” an industry source told The Hill. “It’s my understanding that conversations between the ranking member and the chairman – on a staff and member level – [took] place at the end of last month.” 

Those conversations are likely to continue throughout August. Spokespeople for Wicker and Cantwell declined to comment on the record.

Most of the working group’s discussions have happened behind closed doors, as Wicker has instructed the lawmakers involved not to “negotiate through the press.” 

But just before the recess, a series of leaks revealed that Cantwell’s office was passing around a privacy framework that would allow consumers to sue companies for mishandling their data. That “private right of action” is a non-starter for industry and Republicans. 

“We’re not going to have a private right of action,” Wicker told reporters. Despite the hiccup, he offered a new deadline for releasing a draft privacy bill: Labor Day.

Other prominent sticking points in the negotiations have included the Republican push to include preemption, which would allow the federal law to override state laws. Preemption has been a top priority for the tech industry, which has warned against a “patchwork” of state laws, but Democrats insist they won’t approve any law that is weaker than the California one. 

“We believe that having one standard is important,” Sen. John ThuneJohn Randolph ThuneTrump border fight throws curveball into shutdown prospects Senate leaves for five-week August recess Senate passes sweeping budget deal, sending it to Trump MORE (R-S.D.), a member of the Senate privacy working group and GOP majority whip, told The Hill. “And of course, the Democrats have their priorities in this as well.” 

Some lawmakers were seeking to pass legislation this year in an effort to head off California’s privacy rules and get ahead of states like Washington, New York that are considering their own laws.

“There are some deadlines coming up that will encourage people to work harder at a federal level,” Michelle Richardson, the director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s privacy and data project, told The Hill. 

California’s law will not be enforceable until July, giving the lawmakers a bit more room in their negotiations. 

In the House, the most prominent privacy conversations have taken place between the offices of Reps. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) and Jan SchakowskyJanice (Jan) Danoff SchakowskyThe Hill’s Morning Report — Mueller testimony gives Trump a boost as Dems ponder next steps On The Money: House to vote on budget deal Thursday | US, China resuming trade talks next week | Mnuchin backs DOJ tech antitrust probe House to vote on budget deal Thursday MORE (D-Ill.), the top Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee. 

Their negotiations have been quieter and more sporadic and it is unclear if the Democrats could get Republican support. 

“Chairman Pallone is developing comprehensive data privacy and security legislation with Chair Schakowsky and other Committee members,” a House Energy and Commerce spokesperson told The Hill. “Bipartisan discussions continue, which he hopes will produce strong consumer privacy protections for all Americans.”

According to multiple sources, there have been meetings on privacy among Republicans and Democrats on the committee. But the talks have not resulted in any substantial proposals yet.  

“We need clear rules of the road,” a GOP Energy and Commerce spokesperson said. “We need one national privacy standard while improving transparency, accountability, and security for consumers while protecting innovation and small businesses.” 

Tech trade groups and companies, as well as some privacy advocates, have offered their own drafts of potential privacy legislation, which are continuing to circulate on Capitol Hill.  

And all the stakeholders are planning to continue to push their ideas for a data privacy bill throughout the month. 

Jason Oxman, the president of the Information Technology Industry Council (ITI), told The Hill that his organization will be attending staff-level meetings throughout the recess. ITI represents tech companies including Amazon, Apple, eBay, Google and IBM. 

“Our understanding is that there is still strong interest in the House and in the Senate in moving forward with federal privacy legislation,” he said, describing himself as “optimistic.”

The negotiations, though, have dragged on for over a year and lawmakers in both chambers have blown past multiple self-imposed deadlines. 

Michelle Richardson, the director of the Center for Democracy and Technology’s data privacy project, said she’s not deterred.

She said it is “very complicated” to construct “a single legal regime that will cover businesses of different sizes, different business models, that use information for different purposes” in a way that is “meaningful for consumers.”

As soon as the lawmakers release the draft bill, there will be a rush of lobbying and public comments as every stakeholder – privacy advocates, tech groups, companies and anyone else touched by data collection regulations – offers their perspective. 

“I’m cautiously optimistic that we’re going to get a product out of this Cantrell-Wicker negotiation,” the industry source said. “We need them to come together on something and we really need this to get done.

“It’s consumers, it’s Americans … every day we don’t have a strong federal privacy standard, it’s hurting their privacy and their data security.” 

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A car bomb detonated by Taliban forces in Kabul, Afghanistan, killed more than a dozen people and wounded nearly 150 more Wednesday, according to The Associated Press.

The bomb detonated during morning rush hour in a busy neighborhood in the nation’s capital. While it was aimed at Afghan security forces, the majority of the 14 killed and 145 wounded were civilians, according to the AP.

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Deputy Interior Minister Khoshal Sadat told reporters that of those wounded when the car exploded at a security checkpoint, 92 were civilians, while four of the dead were police officers.

The attack comes amid ongoing peace talks between the Taliban and the U.S., during which the Taliban have pledged to do more to prevent civilian loss of life even as July saw the most monthly civilian casualties since 2017 at more than 1,500, according to the United Nations.

Presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi said such attacks represent a major roadblock in peace negotiations, although he told reporters “Afghan security forces are strong and can protect the Afghan population,” according to the AP.

Taliban forces have been staging attacks on security forces throughout the country nearly daily, according to the AP, and on Tuesday issued a warning against voting in the Sept. 28 presidential election, which has already been delayed over safety concerns.

The group is in its strongest territorial position since 2001, when the U.S. invaded the nation and removed them from power over their refusal to turn over Osama bin Laden.

Abdul Ahid Walizada, a spokesman for the provincial police chief, said a separate bombing wounded at least eight Wednesday in the western city of Herat, according to the AP.