KABUL: An explosion near a police station in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province killed at least three people on Monday, including the provincial police chief, and wounded two others, an official said.
The blast occurred near the police headquarters in the provincial capital Faizabad, Abdul Nafi Takoor, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, told Arab News.
He said: “As a result of the explosion, three people, including Maulvi Abdul Haq Abu Omar, the provincial police chief, were killed and two others were injured.
“Police arrested two suspects in connection with the explosion.”
Takoor added that the explosive material used in the incident had been placed in a rickshaw.
A Faizabad resident, who requested anonymity due to security concerns, told Arab News that the blast had “hit the Badakhshan police chief’s vehicle.”
Police have launched an investigation into the attack, but no one has claimed responsibility for the blast that took place in the remote, mountainous Afghan province, which shares borders with Tajikistan, Pakistan and China.
The incident on Monday came a day after an attack near a gas station in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Police spokesman Khalid Zadran said: “The explosion happened near a gas station on Sunday night, but there were no casualties.”
Former general Abdul Wahid Taqat said: “The bloody Badakhshan attack is not the first and not the last, due to the existence of the enemies of the Islamic Emirate there (and) the presence of militants.”
In the past, resistance movements have claimed activity in Badakhshan.
There has reportedly been an increased presence of resistance groups following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan last year.
