CONFLICTSAFGHANISTAN
Afghanistan: Deadly blast rocks Kabul Shiite neighborhood
14 hours ago14 hours ago
Local police said explosives were hidden in a minibus in a Shiite minority area of the capital. Shiite Muslims are a historically persecuted minority in the country, which has been under Taliban leadership since 2021.
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A general view shows residential buildings in the city of Kabul
The bomb went off in a western neighborhood of KabulImage: WAKIL KOHSAR/AFP
At least one person was killed and 11 others injured when a bomb hidden in a minibus exploded in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday.
“An IED [improvised explosive device] was planted on a minibus in the Dasht-e-Barchi area,” said Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran, adding that an investigation was underway.
What do we know about the location of the blast?
The neighborhood in the west of the capital is home to many Shiite Muslims — a historically persecuted minority in Afghanistan.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which took place around 4 p.m. local time (1130 GMT), but Shiites have frequently been a target for the so-called Islamic State (IS) terrorist group, which considers them heretics.
Bombings and other attacks have been significantly reduced since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, but IS offshoots are still thought to be active in the conflict-torn country.
mf/rmt (dpa, AFP)
