Several killed as roadside bomb targets minibus in Afghanistan
The vehicle was bringing staff and students to Alberoni University in northern Afghanistan, the interior ministry says.
A roadside bomb hit a minibus carrying university lecturers and students in Afghanistan’s northern Parvan province, killing at least four people and wounding 11 others, officials said.
Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said the minibus was targeted on Saturday in the provincial capital of Charikar while transferring the group to Alberoni University in the neighbouring Kapisa province.
Kapisa provincial police spokesman Shayeq Shoresh said the bomb was set off by remote control.
The ministry of higher education said at least two of the killed were lecturers at Alberoni University, adding that the wounded included the dean of the university and some students.
Some of the wounded were in critical condition, said Hamed Obaidi, a spokesman for the ministry of higher education.
Afghanistan’s TOLO News reported that the attack took place at about 3:15pm (10:45 GMT).
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack and the Taliban denied they were involved.
Previous deadly attacks on the Kabul University in November last year were claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) group.
Large swaths of war-ravaged Afghanistan have been littered with bombs and landmines. Many have been planted by fighters to target military convoys, but they often kill civilians instead.
Saturday’s attack comes weeks after the remaining 2,500 to 3,500 US troops officially began leaving the country.
They will be gone by September 11 at the latest. The pullout comes amid a resurgent Taliban, which controls or holds sway over half of Afghanistan.
Under an agreement signed by the Taliban and the US last year, Washington was to pull out troops in exchange for Taliban security guarantees and for the group to start peace talks with the Afghan government.
However, in recent months, violence in the country has soared.
Three weeks ago, a bomb attack outside a school in the capital Kabul killed 68 people, most of them students, and wounded 165 others.
Nearly 1,800 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first three months of 2021 during fighting between government forces and Taliban fighters, the United Nations said last month.