An Afghan man walks past shattered glass near the site of a bombing in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul, on December 10. AFP
An Afghan man walks past shattered glass near the site of a bombing in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul, on December 10. AFP
An Afghan man walks past shattered glass near the site of a bombing in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul, on December 10. AFP
An Afghan man walks past shattered glass near the site of a bombing in Dasht-e-Barchi, Kabul, on December 10. AFP

Two killed in Kabul bus bombings claimed by ISIS


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Bus bombings claimed by the Afghan affiliate of ISIS killed two people and wounded four others in Kabul on Friday, the Taliban said.

"Two civilians have been killed and three others were wounded" when a bomb exploded on a minibus in the Dasht-e-Barchi district of the Afghan capital, the Taliban's interior ministry spokesman Sayed Khosti told reporters.

Another bomb blast in the area injured a woman, he said.

Dasht-e-Barchi is largely populated by the mostly Shiite Hazara community, who for years have been the target of violence by ISIS-Khorasan (IS-K).

The group claimed responsibility for the attacks in a message late on Friday, saying there were three explosions targeting buses carrying Shiites.

The bombings killed and wounding dozens of people, according to the message translated by the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist activity.

Broken glass and damaged structures were seen on and near the street where one of the explosions occurred.

In November, a similar bomb attack on a minibus in Dasht-e-Barchi killed two people and wounded five others. That attack was also claimed by IS-K.

  • People view the damage inside a mosque following a bombing in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, on Friday. All photos: AP Photo / Abdullah Sahil
    People view the damage inside a mosque following a bombing in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, on Friday. All photos: AP Photo / Abdullah Sahil
  • The powerful explosion caused several casualties, witnesses and the Taliban's spokesman said.
    The powerful explosion caused several casualties, witnesses and the Taliban's spokesman said.
  • A man walks down the mosque's blood-stained steps following the bombing.
    A man walks down the mosque's blood-stained steps following the bombing.
  • People carry a body from inside the mosque.
    People carry a body from inside the mosque.
  • The devastation was all to clear to see.
    The devastation was all to clear to see.

The group has claimed a string of attacks since the Taliban seized power from Afghanistan's western-backed government in August, including as suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in Kandahar on October 15 that killed at least 60 people and injured scores more.

That attack came a week after another mosque bombing claimed by the group in northern Kunduz province that killed more than 60 people.

The Taliban has vowed to crush the rival Sunni extremist group, launching crackdowns against its hideouts, especially in the country's south and east.

Friday's bus bombings were the first fatal attack reported by the Taliban for several weeks.

But Kabul has been hit by repeated blasts lately that the Taliban say have been non-fatal.

The Taliban came back to power after a two-decade absence on August 15, when the previous government's resistance melted amid the final stages of a US military withdrawal from the country.

The Taliban's first stint in power lasted from 1996 until 2001, when a US-led invasion toppled their hardline regime.

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Checks continue

A High Court judge issued an interim order on Friday suspending a decision by Agriculture Minister Edwin Poots to direct a stop to Brexit agri-food checks at Northern Ireland ports.

Mr Justice Colton said he was making the temporary direction until a judicial review of the minister's unilateral action this week to order a halt to port checks that are required under the Northern Ireland Protocol.

Civil servants have yet to implement the instruction, pending legal clarity on their obligations, and checks are continuing.

Updated: December 11, 2021, 7:29 AM