Deadly Attack Carried Out in Afghanistan

(USNewsBreak.com) – Suicide bombings aren’t unusual in the Middle East, where terrorist factions operate nearly unchecked. In Afghanistan, where the Taliban has ruled since seizing power back in 2021, they are especially prevalent. Another tragedy struck recently, killing at least three people and injuring dozens more.

On Thursday, March 21, Taliban members reportedly lined up outside Kandahar City’s New Kabul Bank branch to collect their salaries around 8:30 a.m., when a suicide bomber detonated explosives. The blast killed several people and injured others, who bystanders and authorities took to a local hospital.

A suicide bomber carried out an attack at a private bank in the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan, killing at least three people and injuring 12 others, officials say. https://t.co/xqGL959GHm

— NBC News World (@NBCNewsWorld) March 22, 2024

According to the Taliban Interior Ministry, it is investigating the attack, though it suggested that Islamic State-Khorasan, known as ISIS-K, was responsible. In fact, the group later claimed it had plotted the attack. The government posted on X, formerly Twitter, saying it “condemns this attack and assures people that the perpetrators” will answer for their crimes when the government catches them.

Media reports say that the blast killed at least three people, echoing the Taliban officials’ statement. However, The New York Times noted that hospital staff, including a doctor and nurse not permitted to speak with the press, stated at least 20 had died and another 50 or more received injuries.

It’s rare to see attacks in Kandahar City as the Taliban’s supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, calls it home. It’s also the birthplace of the Taliban terrorist regime. Akhundzada doesn’t leave the area often, and Afghans consider the region a political and spiritual base.

However, ISIS-K doesn’t discriminate. It has antagonized the Taliban and attacked several locations throughout the country, including hospitals and schools, in attacks that have left dozens dead and many more injured. Their tactics have prompted a Taliban campaign to eliminate the faction. The government has experienced moderate success, having killed several of the group’s leaders and pushed fighters into nearby Pakistan, where they have also carried out many attacks.