Five Taliban members, 1 civilian killed in IED blast in Afghanistan

KABUL: At least five Taliban members and one civilian were killed in an IED blast in the Spin Boldak district of Afghanistan. The blast took place at around 8 am on Thursday morning.

Taking to Twitter, Reporterly said, "Five Taliban members and a civilian were killed and another member of this group was wounded in a roadside IED blast in Spin Boldak district of #Kandahar, local sources reported. According to sources, the blast took place at around 0800hrs on Thursday morning June 09." The cases of blast in Afghanistan is not new. Earlier, on Monday, a blast took place in Police District-4 of Kabulfrom with explosives carried on a bicycle, the Kabul security department said.

Security forces have arrived in the area to investigate the matter, reported TOLO News. Earlier, three explosions rocked the capital of Balkh province on May 25, leaving at least 9 people killed and 15 others injured. Meanwhile, on the same day, a blast at Masjid Sharif Hazrat Zakaria mosque in Kabul City left at least two worshippers dead, according to officials.

In response to the attacks in Balkh and Kabul, the US Special Envoy for Women and Human Rights in Afghanistan, Rina Amiri said that the Taliban must ensure people's security and prevent atrocities. "The heinous attacks in Mazar & Kabul serve no purpose but to inflict further devastation on innocent Afghans who have suffered enough," Amiri tweeted.

"Preventing these horrid attacks and addressing the security & needs of all Afghans should be what the Taliban focus on," she added. The first two explosions in Balkh province targeted passenger vehicles in the Hazara neighbourhood, local media reported citing local sources. Additionally, earlier, an explosion at a traffic square in Kabul's fourth police district had killed at least 30 people and injured others at the Hazrat Zekriya Mosque.

The Emergency hospital said that 22 people had been injured and that 5 of them had died on their way before reaching the hospital. No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the blast in Hazrat Zakariya. The Taliban faced a severe security threat from the Khorasan branch of ISIS, which has been active in Afghanistan since 2014. Earlier, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the recent attacks in Afghanistan that claimed the lives of numerous civilians, among them members of the Hazara Shia community and several children."

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