Conflicts & War

10 killed, 13 injured in blasts on passenger vehicles in northern Afghanistan

Kabul, Apr 28 (EFE).- At least 10 people were killed and 13 injured Thursday in two explosions targeting vehicles carrying passengers in northern Afghanistan, officials told Efe.

“Two explosions at the same time happened in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, killing 10 people and wounding 13 others,” Ghausudin Anwari, the director of the provincial hospital in Balkh, where the attacks took place, told Efe.

Provincial police spokesman Mohammad Asif Waziri told Efe that the simultaneous blasts took place at around 17.30 local time (13.00 GMT) and occurred in two vehicles carrying passengers from a bus station to rural areas outside the city.

“Based on our information, both vehicles were picking up passengers at a bus station and were on the move when they exploded,” Waziri said.

He added that the passengers were Shias who were traveling home ahead of Eid, one of the most important religious holidays of the year.

Authorities have not indicated where the explosives came from, and so far no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The events come after a series of attacks that rocked several parts of the country over the past week, one of the bloodiest since the Taliban came to power in August.

Last Friday, an explosion after Friday prayers at a mosque in the Imam Sahib district of the northern province of Kunduz left at least 33 dead and 43 wounded.

The Shiite minority was targeted just a day earlier, with an attack on a mosque claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group in Mazar-e-Sharif that left at least 12 dead and 35 wounded.

These attacks are in addition to those that took place on Tuesday at two educational centers in the Shiite Hazara minority neighborhood of Dashte Barchi, in western Kabul, causing at least six dead and 25 wounded.

Activists suggest that the death toll could be much higher, but believe that the Taliban authorities are trying to lower the figure to give a sense of security in the country.

The spike in violence comes three days before Eid al-Fitr, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month Ramadan. EFE

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