16 dead, wounded in separate blasts

SHIBERGHAN/ KUNDUZ CITY (PAN): At least four people were killed and 12others injured during two separate blasts in northwestern Jawzjan and northeastern Kunduz provinces, officials said on Thursday.

District chief Asadullah Bahrami told Pajhwok Afghan News a policeman and a civilian were killed and 10 others wounded in an explosion at a bus stop in the Aqcha district of Jawzjan province.

Bahrami said the incident took place on Thursday morning when an explosives-laden rickshaw hit a police pick-up. He said six civilians and four policemen were injured and evacuated to hospital.

But Abdul Manan Raufi, operational head at the police headquarters, said another civilian succumbed to his injuries at the Aqcha hospital.

Other wounded individuals were evacuated to Shiberghan and Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, Raufi added.

Witness Muhammad Hakim said: “I was on my way from Aqcha bazaar to Shiberghan when a rickshaw came closer and exploded near the police Ranger.” Soon after the blast, security forces rushed to the scene and cordoned off the area.

In a incident in the 1^st police district of Kunduz City, a bomb explosion left one security official dead and three civilians injured.

Provincial police chief Khalil Andrabi, confirming the incident, said the cause of the explosion was yet to be determined. “The blast occurred in a Corolla car and police are investigating.”

Resident Shahidullah said: “I was opening my shop when a huge explosion shook the locality. The blasts sent shock waves and people ran pell-mell. I saw one person dead and many wounded.”

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