Five killed by suicide bomber outside bank in Afghanistan

A suicide bomber killed five people including Taliban security forces on Tuesday in an explosion outside a bank in northern Afghanistan, police said.

Seven people were also wounded in the attack which targeted a queue of people waiting to collect their salaries from a bank in the city of Kunduz, the capital of Kunduz province.

“A suicide bomber, who had improvised explosive devices, detonated himself,” said Jumadin Khaksar, police spokesman for Kunduz province.

He said civilians, civil servants and members of the Taliban security forces were among those killed.

“The Kunduz Province Police Command is working with relevant organisations to find the perpetrators of the incident and bring them to justice.”

In March last year, a suicide bomber killed at least three people when he detonated a bomb outside a bank in the southern city of Kandahar, in an attack claimed by the regional chapter of the Islamic State (IS).

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Tuesday’s attack.

The number of bomb blasts and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has markedly declined since the Taliban ended their insurgency after seizing power in August 2021, ousting the US-backed government.

However, a number of armed groups — including IS — remain a threat.

AFP