Asia

Blast Rocks Shi'ite Area in Western Kabul, Leaving at Least One Dead

The country has recently been hit by a chain of blasts targeting mosques and other public places that have claimed dozens of lives and injured even more.
Sputnik
A powerful explosion hit the Dasht-e-Barchi district of the Afghan capital, a source told Sputnik on Saturday. According to Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman of the Taliban*, the blast killed at least one person and two more were injured
Multiple videos purportedly taken at the site following the blast have been shared online.
The blast is yet another terror attack targeting a Shia-populated area (over 90% of Dasht-e-Barchi's population belongs to the Hazara ethnic group, who are predominantly Shia Muslims).
Terrorists have previously staged explosions at three Shia mosques across the country over the past weeks, killing up to 130 people in total: at least three were killed by a blast in Nangarhar, 63 in Kandahar, and over 60 in Kunduz.
Responsibility for those attacks was claimed by a Daesh-linked* terror group. The situation in the country remains uncertain since the Taliban* seized power in August. The movement boosted its presence amid the US troop withdrawal from the country earlier this year and managed to seize the capital on 15 August, declaring an end to the two-decade-long war.
* The Taliban is under UN sanctions over terrorist activities.
* Daesh (also known as Islamic State/ISIS/IS) is a terrorist group banned in Russia and many other countries.
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