Taliban: Roadside bomb kills 6 people in north Afghanistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A roadside bomb went off near a bus with government employees during rush hour on Tuesday morning in northern Afghanistan, killing six people, a Taliban official said.

Mohammad Asif Waziri, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the police chief in Balkh province, said the bombing in Mazar-e Sharif, the provincial capital, also wounded seven people.

The bomb was placed inside a cart by the side of the road and detonated when a bus belonging to the Hiaratan gas and petroleum department was taking employees to work.

No one claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the regional affiliate of the Islamic State group — known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province and a rival of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban — has increased its attacks since Taliban takeover in 2021.

Images posted on social media from the scene show a damaged bus and another vehicle, along with several carts and fruit stalls lying scattered by the roadside following the explosion. The bus was later towed away.

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