A Taliban attack has killed up to 29 people in northern Afghanistan.
The Afghan interior ministry says all those killed on Saturday were civilians, although local officials called them anti-Taliban militiamen.
The Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes after a barrage of bombings in Kabul killed at least 51 people on Friday, the deadliest day for the capital in years.
‘The incident took place (when) a suicide bomber detonated his suicide vest in Khanabad district,’ the interior ministry said, strongly condemning the ‘heinous act’.
‘The suicide attack… resulted in martyrdom of 21 civilians and wounding of 10 others.’
But Abdul Wadood Wahidi, spokesman for the governor of Kunduz, said 22 militiamen – including four of their commanders – were killed by an improvised explosive device.
Kunduz is a volatile province where the Taliban have launched a major offensive.
The insurgency has been rapidly spreading across the north from its traditional southern and eastern strongholds, with Afghan forces increasingly battling the militants on their own.
US-led NATO forces ended their combat mission in Afghanistan in December last year, although a 13,000-strong residual force remains for training and counter-terrorism operations.
Source: Sky News
