Kandahar (Kubha News) – At 08:30am on Thursday, when customers were queuing in front of the Kabul Bank branch in the 1th PD of Kandahar city to withdraw cash, a suicide attacker detonated explosives strapped to his body.
Although local reporters have not been allowed to access the scene and report, Asadullah Jamshid, the spokesman for the Taliban security command, confirmed the attack hours later through a video message sent to the media that three people were killed and twelve others were wounded.
However, a doctor in the Mirwais hospital, who preferred not to be named, confirmed to the media that 21 dead and 53 wounded were transferred to this hospital from the Kandahar incident on Thursday.
So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but in a statement by the Ministry of Interior of the Taliban government, without mentioning the number of casualties, this suicide attack has been attributed to “Khawarij”.
Taliban officials mostly refer to the ISIS group as Khawarij.
A source close to the Taliban told Kubha News that the leadership and security organs of the Taliban in Kandahar had recently become aware of threats to the security of this province. The governor of Kandahar, both before and after successive incidents of insecurity in the province, advised authorities and security forces to intensify efforts and strengthen security.
The suicide attack on Friday in Kandahar is the first of its kind in the past two years, according to locals, occurring in a strictly secured area.
The incident has been met with serious reactions.
The Chargé d’Affaires of the U.S Embassy for Afghanistan in Doha, posted on her official Twitter account, stated that attacks on civilians in Afghanistan, including Kandahar, are condemnable, and like other nations, Afghans also have the right to live in peace and tranquility.
Hamid Karzai, the former President of Afghanistan, described the suicide attack in front of the Kabul Bank in Kandahar city as an un-Islamic and inhumane act.
Abdullah Abdullah, the former head of the High Council for National Reconciliation, wrote on his X account that targeting civilians in the blessed month of Ramadan is a war crime and a violation of all principles and laws.