KABUL: A bomb attached to a handcart exploded in Kabul on Friday, officials said, killing eight civilians in an area largely inhabited by Afghanistan’s Shia community.

The blast, which took place when Shia community members in Afghanistan are commemorating Muharram also injured 18 people, police spokesman Khalid Zadran said in a statement to reporters.

“Security teams are trying to find the perpetrators,” Zadran said.

The explosives were attached to a handcart loaded with vegetables and parked in an area where residents shopped for daily food items, Zadran said. The explosion occurred in a west Kabul neighbourhood that is mainly inhabited by members of the Shia Hazara community. The blast came just days ahead of Ashura.

Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed the toll, saying the bombing was the “work of those who are enemies of Islam and the country”.

The blast was claimed by the militant Islamic State group.

The group said on one of its telegram channels that IS fighters “detonated the bomb”.

The number of attacks has fallen since the Taliban returned to power, but IS has continued to target Shias.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2022