Three killed, 12 injured in suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s Kandahar

Three people were killed and 12 others were injured in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan’s Kandahar on Thursday (Mar 21). Speaking to the news agency AFP, Kandahar’s Director of Information and Culture Inamullah Samangani said, “A suicide attack occurred in which three compatriots were killed and 12 others were wounded, according to preliminary information.”

The explosion occurred at 8 am local time and targeted a group of people waiting outside the New Kabul Bank branch in central Kandahar city. “Commonly our compatriots gather there (at the bank branch) to collect their salaries,” Samangani said, adding the victims were civilians.

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No group claimed responsibility for the attack, but some reports suggested that the Islamic State was behind the suicide bombing. Taliban authorities surrounded the incident site and did not allow media persons close to it. Firefighters and security personnel were clearing the area, where blood, scraps of clothes and shoes littered the ground, AFP reported.

Samangani told the news agency that the situation was under control at one of the city’s hospitals where the injured were transported. The official denied that a need for blood donations was urgent.

“There is no such issue, and the wounded people are not in serious condition, they have superficial injuries,” he further said.

Multiple explosions have been reported across Afghanistan since the start of Ramadan.