Afghanistan: 7 Killed, 20 Injured In Blast In Kabul

This is the second blast in the past two weeks in Afghanistan's capital Kabul's Shia neighbourhood of Dashti Barchi.

Updated on: 7 November 2023 5:29 pm

Taliban fighters stand guard at the site of an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Representative Image)

At least seven people were killed and 20 were injured in a blast on Tuesday in Afghanistan's capital Kabul.

The Taliban authorities running Afghanistan said a minibus exploded in the Shia neighbourhood of Dashti Barchi in Kabul.

While no one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, the terrorist group ISIS's regional affiliate Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) has previously targeted Shia sect of Islam, attacking Shia schools, hospitals, and mosques in the same area.

This is the second blast in the past two weeks in Kabul's Shia neighbourhood of Dashti Barchi, reported the Associated Press (AP).

ISIS through its affiliate ISKP has waged a bloody insurgency in Afghanistan since the Taliban took over the country in 2021. Just last month, AP noted that ISIS claimed responsibility for an attack in Dashti Barchi that killed at least four people and critically injured about seven others. Hundreds of people, particularly minority sects like the Hazaras and the Shia, have been killed in ISIS attacks.

Among the major attacks that ISIS has carried out are the bombing of the Kabul airport in August 2021 that killed 170 civilian and 13 US soldiers, attacks on Pakistani and Russian missions, and an attack on a hotel favoured by the Chinese. Notably, Pakistan, China, and Russia are among the few countries that have been favourable to the Taliban regime which has been otherwise shunned by much of the international community.

ISIS has claimed to have conducted 283 attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban in which it says it has killed at least 670 and injured 1,200, according to ISIS claims cited by CNN.