(Kandahar) Three people were killed Thursday in a suicide attack attributed to the Islamic State jihadist group outside a bank in the city of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, authorities announced.
“This morning, a suicide attack took place in front of the New Bank of Kabul, three people were killed and 12 injured,” announced to AFP Inamullah Samangani, director of the Department of Information and Culture of the Kandahar province.
“According to initial information, the crime was committed by Daesh” (acronym for the Islamic State in Arabic), Interior Ministry spokesperson Abdul Mateen told AFP a few hours later. Qani.
IS has not claimed responsibility for the attack at this stage.
“The department takes this crime very seriously. The criminals will be identified and brought to justice,” added Mr. Qani, assuring that the toll had not increased compared to the initial announcement.
“The victims are civilians,” said Mr. Samangani, adding that the attack had targeted people who had come to collect their salaries in this bank in Kandahar, a historic stronghold of the Taliban.
Emir Hibatullah Akhundzada, the supreme leader of the Taliban, lives in seclusion in Kandahar, while the government is installed in Kabul.
The attack took place at 8 a.m. local time (11:30 p.m. Eastern time) in the center of the large southern city, as the Muslim country observes the fasting month of Ramadan.
Taliban authorities quickly cordoned off the area and banned journalists from taking photos and videos, as they usually do in the event of an attack.
An AFP journalist saw the bodies of victims on site, who appeared unconscious or deceased, being taken away in ambulances.
Taliban authorities generally announce much lower human tolls than hospitals, for example.
Mr. Samangani, who was in one of the hospitals that received victims, denied that there was an urgent need for blood, contrary to what messages on social networks claimed.
“This problem does not arise. The injured are not seriously injured,” he assured in a message to the press.
Always a threat
Hospitals in Kandahar declined to provide information on the arrival of victims, explaining that they had been ordered not to speak to the media.
Security personnel and firefighters quickly cleared the area of the attack where traces of blood, clothing, shoes and debris were visible.
The number of bombings and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has declined significantly since the Taliban regained power in August 2021 and relative security prevails.
However, a number of armed groups, such as ISIS, still pose a threat.
In Afghanistan, ISIS mainly targets members of the Hazara Shiite minority.
Numerous explosions have been reported in Afghanistan since the start of Ramadan two weeks ago.
But very few have been confirmed by Taliban authorities.