At least 14 people were killed on Tuesday when two bombs exploded in the town of Bamiyan in central Afghanistan, considered the least dangerous in the country, officials said.
“Fourteen people were killed and 45 others injured in the explosion” of two bombs, Zabardast Safi, the police chief of Bamiyan, told AFP, adding that 13 civilians and a traffic officer were among the victims.
Police spokesman Reza Yosufi added that the bombs were placed in two different locations.
Tareq Arian, spokesperson for the Ministry of the Interior, confirmed this assessment.
Famous for its two gigantic Buddhas destroyed in 2001 by the Taliban, Bamiyan province is considered the least dangerous and among the least conservative in the country.
This mountainous area welcomes in particular foreign tourists and ski competitions.
The vast majority of the province is inhabited by the Shiite Hazara minority. This minority has been targeted several times by the Islamic State (IS) group, notably last May during an attack on a maternity hospital in Kabul, run by the NGO Médecins sans frontières, which killed 25 people including 16 mothers. .
The Taliban, who also persecuted the Hazaras during the civil war of the 1990s, said they were not involved in the attack.
“The explosions in Bamiyan province have nothing to do (with the Taliban),” group spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.