KABUL: At least three people, including a senior police officer, were killed on Monday in an explosion near a police station in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province, the ministry of interior said.
Police said they had begun an investigation but there was no claim of responsibility for the blast that took place in the mountainous and remote Afghan province, which shares borders with Tajikistan, Pakistan, and China.
The blast occurred near police headquarters in the provincial capital Faizabad, Abdul Nafi Takoor, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior Affairs, told Arab News.
“As a result of the blast, three people — including Maulvi Abdul Haq Abu Omar, the provincial police chief — were martyred and another two wounded,” Takoor said.
The blast was carried out with explosive material placed in a rickshaw, the spokesperson added.
A Faizabad resident, who requested anonymity due to safety concerns, told Arab News the blast had “hit the Badakhshan police chief’s vehicle.”
Monday’s incident came a day after an attack close to a petrol station in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
Security in Kabul has intensified in recent days, with an increased number of checkpoints, armored vehicles, Taliban special forces and armed officers on the streets.