KABUL: A bomb blast on a minibus in a neighbourhood of Afghanistan’s capital killed one person and wounded 11 others on Sunday, a Kabul police spokesman said.

The blast went off in Dasht-i-Barchi — home to many Shias, a historically persecuted community in Afghanistan and a frequent target of the Islamic State group that considers them heretics — in the western neighbourhood of Kabul.

“An IED (improvised explosive device) was planted on a minibus in the Dasht-i-Barchi area,” Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said in a statement.

He added that an investigation was under way.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bombing, which took place around 4pm.

While the number of deadly attacks in Afghanistan has markedly declined since the Taliban ended their insurgency after seizing power in August 2021, a number of armed groups, including Daesh, remain a threat.

However, only a day ago, Zabihullah Mujahid, the spokesperson for the Taliban government, had dismissed Western countries’ concerns about the activities of Daesh and other terrorist groups in Afghanistan as “baseless and mere propaganda”.

According to ToloNews, Mujahid said the geography of Afghanistan is under the complete control of the government, and no foreign or domestic rogue groups were allowed to operate.

“Afghanistan has fought seriously against the phenomenon of Daesh, and their centres in Afgha­nis­tan have been completely destroyed. The remaining two percent are under the surveillance of Afghan security forces. This phenomenon does not pose a threat to Afghanistan and cannot pose a threat to anyone,” he said.

Published in Dawn, August 12th, 2024