ISIS claims responsibility for blasts on Afghan Minibuses

AFGHANISTAN: Two bomb blasts aboard separate minibuses killed at least nine people Thursday in Afghanistan’s Mazar-i-Sharif, police said, a week after a deadly explosion rocked a Shiite mosque in the northern city.

The number of violent public attacks across Afghanistan has fallen since the Taliban returned to power last August, but the Sunni Islamic State group has continued to target Shiites, whom they view as heretics.

A string of deadly bombings targeting members of the minority communities has convulsed the country in the past two weeks of the fasting month of Ramadan, killing and wounding dozens.

“The targets appear to be Shiite passengers,” he said, adding 13 people were wounded in the blasts. “The enemies of Afghanistan are creating tension and division among our people.”

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the bombings. Images posted on social media showed one minibus engulfed in fire, while the other was mangled with Taliban fighters transporting victims from the vehicle to hospitals.

The blasts came a week after a deadly bomb attack at a Shiite mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif killed at least 12 worshippers and wounded scores more. That explosion was followed a day later by a separate bomb attack at another mosque in the northern city of Kunduz targeting the minority Sufi community. – THE BANGKOK POST