World
Second bombing in two days in Kabul on eve of Eid al-Fitr holiday
People buy dry fruits ahead of Eid al-Fitr which marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan, at a market in Kabul on April 30, 2022. u00e2u20acu201d AFP pic

KABUL, May 1 — A bomb blast in a passenger van in Kabul today killed at least one person, officials said, in the second explosion in the Afghan capital in two days, as security concerns rise on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Fitr.

Islamic state claimed responsibility for the attack today, according to the group’s telegram channel.

Advertising
Advertising

"One woman was killed and three more injured,” Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for Kabul’s commander, told Reuters.

On Friday, an explosion killed more than 50 worshippers after Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque amid a spate of mosque attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

One witness to the passenger van blast, Ali Maisam, 19, who was waiting outside a nearby bakery at the time, said he saw a number of bodies.

"I saw people coming out of the minibus with bloody and burnt faces... I saw that four bodies were taken out and a woman was among the dead,” he said.

Security concerns have risen across Afghanistan as the country prepares to mark Eid al-Fitr on Sunday under Taliban rule for the first time in more than 20 years, after the group was removed from power following a US invasion in 2001.

The Taliban retook power last August after foreign forces pulled out of the country and since then Afghanistan grapples with a rise in attacks by Islamic State.

Taliban authorities announced today that Eid would be marked the following day, leading to raucous rounds of celebratory gunfire in the streets of Kabul late on Saturday night.

The authorities also moved to assuage people’s fears over security ahead of Eid.

"We ensure our countrymen we will ensure security during Eid,” spokesman for Afghan interior ministry Abdul Nafee Takor said. — Reuters

Related Articles

 

You May Also Like