KABUL, Afghanistan, Sept 30: A Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police chief says 19 people were killed and 27 were wounded in a suicide bombing in a Shiite area of the Afghan capital.

Khalid Zadran, the spokesman, says the explosion in the Dashti Barchi neighborhood of Kabul took place on Friday morning. The area is populated mostly by members of Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack. The Islamic State group — the chief rival of the Taliban since their takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021 — has in the past targeted the Hazara community.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. AP’s earlier story follows below.

ISALAMABAD (AP) — There was a blast Friday morning in a Shiite neighborhood of the Afghan capital Kabul, a Taliban official confirmed.

Local media reported the blast was inside an education center in the Dashti Barchi area.

Abdul Nafi Takor, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the blast was in the early morning but was unable to provide more details.

“Our teams have dispatched at the site of the blast to find out more details,” Takor said.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest in a steady stream of violence since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan just over a year ago.

The Islamic State group — a top rival of the Taliban — has previously targeted mosques and worshippers, especially members of Afghanistan’s Shiite community in attacks.

 
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