(Kabul) The death toll from the attack on a bus in a Shiite neighborhood in Kabul, claimed by the Islamic State group, rose from two to five dead, Afghan police said on Sunday, a country where the majority of the population is Sunni.
Kabul police spokesperson Khalid Zadran announced an initial toll of two dead and 14 injured in the explosion of a bus on Saturday evening in the Dasht-e-Barchi district of the capital, an enclave of the historically oppressed Hazara Shiite community.
In a press release on Sunday, he revised the toll upwards, reporting five dead and 15 injured who were hospitalized.
He said the explosion was caused by explosives placed in the bus and that “police are investigating the incident to find the culprits and bring them to justice.”
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan said Sunday that the number of casualties was at least 25 in a message posted on social media. The Mission called for “an end to targeted attacks against civilians and greater protection for Afghanistan’s Hazara community.”
Hours after the explosion, the regional branch of the Islamic State (IS) group claimed on Telegram that it was behind the explosion.
In November, seven people were killed in an explosion on a bus in Dasht-e-Barchi, also claimed by IS, which considers Shiites to be heretics.
The number of bombings and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has declined significantly since the Taliban ended their insurgency after seizing power in August 2021, ousting the U.S.-backed government.
However, a number of armed groups still remain a threat.