A blast hit a cultural centre during an event for journalists in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing eight including five journalists, according to authorities and journalists, a few days after the province's governor died in an explosion claimed by the militant Islamic State.
"Today, at 11:30 am an explosion occurred at the Tabyan Cultural Centre, in the second police district of Mazar-i-Sharif in Balkh province ... the explosion happened due to a mine," said Abdul Nafi Takor, spokesperson for the Taliban administration's Ministry of Interior.
Takor added that five journalists and three children were among the injured and a security guard was also killed.It was not immediately clear who was behind the explosion.
Sajad Mosawi, a journalist in Balkh who was injured in the blast, said it had torn through the centre during an event to celebrate journalists.
Taliban authorities were already investigating the explosion that killed provincial governor Mawlawi Mohammad Dawood Muzamil and two others at his office on Thursday.
The governor of Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar will temporarily run Balkh, his spokesperson Haji Zaid told Reuters, until Supreme Spiritual Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada selects a new governor for the northern province, an important trade hub with Central Asia.
An explosion during an award ceremony for journalists in Afghanistan’s northern Balkh province has killed at least one person and wounded eight others, according to a Taliban police spokesman.but independent sources claimed the death of eight people including five journalists
The explosion took place at the Tabian Farhang centre in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of the province, as journalists gathered for the award event at 11am on Saturday, said Mohammad Asif Waziri, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for Balkh police.
“A blast has taken placed in the second police district of Balkh,” he said. Waziri confirmed the casualty toll, adding that three children were among the injured.
The incident came two days after a bomb in Mazar-i-Sharif killed the provincial governor, Daud Muzmal, and two others. Four were wounded.
A journalist based in Balkh, Mohammad Fardin Nowrozi, told the Reuters news agency that he and other journalists were injured in the explosion, but did not provide further details.Wounded journalists also included Najeeb Faryad, a reporter for Ariana News television station, who said he felt like something hit him in the back, followed by a deafening sound before he fell to the ground, according to the Associated Press news agency.
No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the regional affiliate of the ISIL (ISIS) group is a key rival of the Taliban.
The group has increased its attacks in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover of the country in August 2021. Targets have included Taliban patrols and members of Afghanistan’s Shia minority.
The explosion took place at the Tabian Farhang centre in Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of the province, as journalists gathered for the award event at 11am on Saturday, said Mohammad Asif Waziri, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for Balkh police.