Eight killed, 18 injured in bomb blast in Kabul's Shia neighbourhood

A bomb exploded in a busy shopping street in Afghanistan's capital Kabul on Saturday and at least 22 people were injured, hospital officials and witnesses said.

The blast occurred in a western district of the city where members of the Shia community regularly meet.Video footage posted online showed ambulances rushing to the scene, which is also near bus stations.A spokesman for the Taliban interior ministry said an investigation team was at the blast site to help the wounded and assess casualties.

On Friday, at least eight people were killed and 18 injured in a blast in Kabul carried out by Islamic State.

IS does not control any territory in Afghanistan but does have deadly sleeper cells that have been targeting religious minorities in the country as well as Taliban patrols.

Taliban authorities, who took over Afghanistan in August last year after a two-decade insurgency, have said they would provide more protection for Shia mosques and other facilities.At least eight civilians were killed in an explosion in a predominantly Shia neighbourhood in western Kabul, Taliban authorities have said.

Another 18 people were injured after explosive devices placed inside a cart were detonated on Friday, dpa news agency reported, citing a statement by police spokesperson Khalid Zadran.

Some of the wounded were in critical condition, Zadran added.

The attack came as Shia Muslims, a religious minority in the country, were preparing for Ashura which commemorates the martyrdom of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a statement on its official telegram channel, the group said they had targeted a gathering of Shia Muslims.

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August last year, IS has carried out a number of deadly attacks, mainly targeting religious minority groups.


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