Eight killed in Kabul blast

KABUL: As many as eight people were killed and 18 wounded in a blast that rocked a minority residential area in Afghanistan capital on Friday.

Daesh claimed responsibility for a deadly blast in a minority residential area in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul, the group said. The Afghan police said at least eight people were killed and 18 wounded in the blast. Daesh said in a statement that 20 people were killed and injured in an attack launched in western Kabul.

“The explosion happened in a crowded place,” said Khalid Zadran, the city’s police spokesman. Video shared on social media purportedly of the blast site showed men rushing to help the injured after the incident.

A senior Taliban security official, who declined to be named, said primary investigations revealed that explosives were placed in a vegetable cart and the blast resulted in the wounding and killing of more than 50 people, including women and children.

“There is a possibility that the death toll will increase because most of the wounded people had critical wounds,” he said. Daesh has claimed recent attacks, mainly on the minority community. The Daesh affiliate operating in Afghanistan since 2014 is seen as the country’s most serious security challenge since the Taliban took control of the country in August last year.