Update (1700 EST): ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for the bombing. Taliban Deputy Prime Minister Baradar railed against the attack claiming that suicide bombings during the month of Ramadan “violated the precepts of Islam.”
Update (0919 EST): The Afghan Interim Interior Ministry has claimed that ISIS is responsible for the bombing.
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— 1TVNewsAF (@1TVNewsAF) March 21, 2024
At approximately 0100 EST, initial reports indicated that an explosion ripped through the Kabul Bank in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Initial X posts from local Afghans were promptly deleted from X which actually showed the aftermath of the attack. However, by 0120 EST, local media began reporting casualty numbers, which were in flux. By 0200 EST, Interim Afghan Interior Ministry spokespersons confirmed the vent to TOLO News.
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— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) March 21, 2024
Kandahar, Afghanistan Security Command is reporting that three people were killed and 12 were injured in the suicide bombing, but local media is claiming that up to 20 have been killed and 30 have been injured. As of this publication there has been no attribution. However, ISIS-K has been carrying out attacks like this since the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan in August 2021.
