11 Killed, 30 Wounded in Blast at Funeral for Assassinated Afghan Governor

At least 11 people were killed and 30 wounded by a blast Thursday at a funeral service for an Afghan acting provincial governor assassinated by a suicide bomber earlier this week, the ministry of interior said.

“The Ministry of Interior of the IEA condemns this brutality of the disgraced enemies,” a statement said of the blast, which happened at a service for Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi in Faizabad, capital of Badakhshan province.

Security has improved dramatically since the Taliban stormed back to power in August 2021, ousting a US-backed government and ending their two-decade insurgency, but the Islamic State group remains a threat.

IS claimed responsibility for Ahmadi’s killing on Tuesday, when a suicide bomber drove a car filled with explosives into his vehicle. Ahmadi’s driver was also killed and six others were wounded in that attack.

Thursday’s blast happened at the Nabawi mosque in Faizabad as “a great number of compatriots” had gathered for Ahmadi’s funeral, the interior ministry said.