Blast strikes hospital staff mini-bus

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (PAN): A blast struck a vehicle carrying hospital employees on Wednesday morning in northern Balkh province, an official said.

The mini-bus struck a roadside bomb in the Kart-i-Zaraat area of the Mazar-i Sharif, Brig. Gen. Abdul Raof Taj, the province deputy police chief, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

A witness on the scene, Habibullah, said the employees were all in the bus when the explosion occurred.

The passengers in the vehicle were employees of the Afghan National Army hospital in Mazar-i Sharif. None of them were harmed in the blast, while one passerby was injured.

Taj said that a recently launched police operation in the area has weakened insurgents, and so they have turned to attacking cities.

mrh/at