9 injured in Zabul suicide bombing

QALAT (PAN): The provincial police chief escaped unhurt on Saturday from a suicide bombing that injured nine civilians in the southern province of Zabul, officials said.

A motorized rickshaw was detonated at around 9:30 am while provincial police chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Nabi Elham was traveling to his office, Elham told Pajhwok Afghan News.

None of his guards were injured in the incident because their vehicles had already passed the area when the blast took place, he said.

Only the bomber was killed. Nearby shopkeepers and passers-by were injured in the bombing, he said.

Children were among nine injured, who were taken to Qalat civil hospital. Two of them were in critical condition, a doctor on duty at the hospital said on condition of anonymity.

Shamsullah, an eyewitness, said a rickshaw parked beside the road detonated when a police vehicle was passing the area.

He said a number of civilians were injured in the blast and rushed to hospital.

The area is cordoned off by police, he said.

No one has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

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