Suicide Bomber Targets Taliban In Afghanistan

A suicide bomber carried out an attack Thursday at a private bank in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, killing at least three people and injuring 12 others, officials said.

All of the victims were people who had gathered at the branch of New Kabul Bank to collect their monthly salaries, said Inamullah Samangani, head of the government’s Kandahar Information and Culture Department.

Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the Taliban Interior Ministry, also confirmed the attack but couldn’t provide more details. He said it was being investigated.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. The Islamic State group’s affiliate, a major Taliban rival, has conducted previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.

Kandahar city is a spiritual and political center for Afghanistan’s rulers because the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, is based there and his decisions on major issues are implemented by authorities in Kabul, the capital.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 during the chaotic departure of U.S. and NATO troops after 20 years. Despite initial promises of a more moderate stance, the Taliban gradually reimposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, as they did during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

Meanwhile, a roadside bomb exploded near a security convoy in northwestern Pakistan on Thursday, killing two soldiers and wounding 15 others, officials said.

The attack happened in Dera Ismail Khan, a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, said Inayat Ullah, head of the police bomb disposal unit in the region.

No group immediately claimed responsibility, but suspicion is likely to fall on the Pakistani Taliban, which has claimed previous attacks on security forces. The Pakistani Taliban, known as Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan, is a separate group that has been emboldened since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021.

On Monday, Pakistan targeted TTP hideouts in Afghanistan, drawing condemnations from Kabul.