Islamabad — Taliban authorities in Afghanistan reported Sunday that a bomb blast struck a minibus in Kabul, killing at least one person and wounding 11 others.
A police spokesperson confirmed the casualties, stating that the attack took place in Dasht-e Barchi, a predominantly Shiite neighborhood in the western part of the Afghan capital.
Khalid Zadran said an investigation into the bombing was under way.
The Kabul-based Emergency international humanitarian organization, providing care to people affected by war and poverty, reported that “a magnetic bomb placed under the bus” caused the blast.
The charity wrote on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, that its surgical center received eight victims, including three women, noting that one of the patients “in particular is in a serious condition.”
There were no immediate claims of responsibility, but the Afghan branch of the Islamic State, IS-Khorasan, is the primary suspect. It has taken credit for almost all recent attacks targeting members of the Shi’ite community in Dashti-e-Barchi and elsewhere in the country.
The attack occurred on a day when the Taliban government, citing its official national calendar, declared a public holiday on Wednesday, August 14 to mark the “victory day” against the United States-led international forces.
The Taliban stormed back to power in Kabul on August 15, 2021, facing almost no opposition from the then-U.S.-backed government forces, as American and NATO troops departed the country after almost two decades of involvement in the Afghan war.
There has been no significant Afghan armed resistance to the Taliban rule since then. However, both the United States and the United Nations have warned about the increasing threat of terrorism to the region posed by IS-Khorasan.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s chief spokesperson, responded to those assertions on Saturday, saying they are “unfounded and driven by propaganda.”
He stated that counterterrorism operations by Taliban forces have “significantly weakened” IS-Khorasan, and their government “remains firmly” in control of “the entire territory of Afghanistan.”
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