Three police officers killed in bomb attack in Afghanistan

Three police officers were killed and five injured on Wednesday when a bomb exploded next to a security convoy tasked with clearing illegal poppy-growing areas in northeastern Afghanistan, according to the Interior Ministry.

The Islamic State in Khorasan Province (IS-K), an affiliate of the Islamic State group active in Afghanistan and Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack.

The improvised explosive device (IED) was attached to a motorcycle and targeted a convoy of police vehicles in Faizabad, the capital of the mountainous Badakhshan province, around 11 a.m. (0630 GMT).

“The bomb exploded when the police convoy was on its way to destroy the poppy cultivation,” said a spokesman for the Taliban Interior Ministry Abdul Mateen Qani Posted on X, formerly Twitter.

IS-K said in the evening that it had attacked the Taliban with a “motorcycle bomb”.

The blast came days after clashes between Taliban security officials and residents over violent clearing of poppy crops in two districts of Badakhshan left two people dead and sparked rare protests.

Afghanistan was the largest opium producer before poppy cultivation was banned by a decree from the top Taliban leader in April 2022.

Farmers were encouraged to grow a variety of crops, but none could compete with the financial appeal of the poppy, leading some to continue to discreetly farm small plots.

A AFP The journalist saw Taliban authorities searching houses and arresting dozens of people near the crime scene.

Images posted on social media but not immediately verified AFP showed a charred motorcycle and a riddled police truck.

eyewitness Aminullahwho declined to give his full name, said he heard a huge explosion and saw that a convoy of Taliban authorities had been hit.

“Security forces immediately cleared the area of ​​people,” he said AFP.

The number of bombings and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has fallen since the Taliban ended their insurgency after toppling the US-backed government and returning to power in August 2021.

However, a number of armed groups, including the Islamic State group, continue to pose a threat and explosions are regularly reported, which are not confirmed by authorities.