At least 17 people were killed in a car bomb explosion in an Afghan city on Thursday as crowds shopped for the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, officials and a medic said.
“Seventeen bodies and 21 wounded people were brought to our hospital,” Sediqullah, a senior doctor at a hospital in the city of Puli Alam in Logar province, told AFP.
The interior ministry confirmed the blast, which came ahead of a three-day ceasefire starting Friday between the Taliban and Kabul.
“It was a suicide car bomb in a crowded place where our people were shopping for Eid al-Adha,” Dedar Lawang, spokesman for Logar’s governor, told AFP.
The interior ministry condemned the explosion.
“The terrorists have once again struck on the night of Eid al-Adha and killed a number of our countrymen,” interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the blast had “nothing to do” with the insurgents.
The Taliban and Afghan government have agreed on a three-day ceasefire starting Friday, the first day of Eid.
The truce is slated to last for the duration of the festival, which marks the end of hajj.