A suicide bomber attacked a private bank in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, killing at least three people and wounding 12 others, officials said.
All the victims were people who had gathered at the New Kabul Bank branch to collect their monthly salaries, Inamullah Samangani, head of the government’s Information and Culture Department in Kandahar, said on Thursday.
Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the interior ministry of the Taliban interim government, also confirmed the attack and said an investigation was underway. No one has claimed responsibility for the blast.
The city of Kandahar is the spiritual and political centre for Afghanistan’s rulers because it is home to the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, and his decisions on major issues are implemented by authorities in the capital, Kabul.
The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 during the chaotic withdrawal of US and NATO troops after a 20-year hiatus. Despite initial promises to adopt a more moderate stance, the Taliban gradually reintroduced a harsh interpretation of Islamic law, or Shariah, as they had during their previous rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
