At least three people were killed and seven wounded on Monday in an explosion at a hotel in southeast Afghanistan’s Khost province, the province’s media office said.

The cause of the blast was not immediately clear though the region, near the border with Pakistan, has long been plagued by violence between militants and their enemies.

The Khost media office said people originally from Pakistan’s Waziristan region, which is just over the border and where for years various militant groups have operated, were among the casualties.

Pakistan’s foreign office did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Afghanistan’s Taliban-run administration has faced an insurgency by militant group Islamic State terrorists, who have claimed a series of deadly attacks targeting civilians, foreigners and Taliban security forces in recent months.

Pakistan, meanwhile, has seen an increase in violence by Pakistani Taliban militants fighting the state, and it has complained that Afghanistan’s Taliban are not doing enough to suppress the militants based on their soil.

The Taliban have said they are focused on securing Afghanistan and have carried out several raids against IS cells in recent months.

More than 1,000 Afghan civilians have been killed in bombings and other violence since foreign forces left Afghanistan in 2021 and the Taliban took over, according to the United Nations.

Opinion

Editorial

Back in parliament
Updated 27 Jul, 2024

Back in parliament

It is ECP's responsibility to set right all the wrongs it committed in the Feb 8 general elections.
Brutal crime
27 Jul, 2024

Brutal crime

No effort has been made to even sensitise police to the gravity of crime involving sexual assaults, let alone train them to properly probe such cases.
Upholding rights
27 Jul, 2024

Upholding rights

Sanctity of rights bodies, such as the HRCP, should be inviolable in a civilised environment.
Judicial constraints
Updated 26 Jul, 2024

Judicial constraints

The fact that it is being prescribed by the legislature will be questioned, given the political context.
Macabre spectacle
26 Jul, 2024

Macabre spectacle

Israel knows that regardless of the party that wins the presidency, America’s ‘ironclad’ support for its genocidal endeavours will continue.