Bomb blasts kill at least 17 in major attack on Afghanistan’s Bamyan province

The blast happened around 5 pm local time

At least 17 people were killed when two explosions on Tuesday rocked a busy market in Afghanistan’s Bamyan province, a central region that has until now been considered the country’s safest.

The blast happened around 5pm local time with provincial spokesperson Latif Azimi saying that civilians were deliberately targeted in the neighbourhood, which is home mostly to the Shia minority of Hazara people.

“Local people were working and shopping in the area, many were on their way home. There wasn’t any military nearby,” he told The Telegraph.

No group has yet claimed the attack, but the Islamic State has previously targeted Shia minorities throughout Afghanistan.

Videos emerging on social media showed chaos and carnage, with people lying on the street covered in blood while others try to run for safety or evacuate injured people from the attack’s scene. At least 59 people were injured. 

“We are shocked. Bamyan has always been considered a peaceful province, sheltered from much of the war and fighting. We won’t allow violence to take over,” Mr Azimi said. 

Videos emerging on social media showed chaos and carnage

Afghanistan has seen a surge in violence throughout the country, even as the Afghan government and the Taliban are for the first time meeting for direct negotiations — hundreds of miles away in Qatar’s capital Doha. 

The US government’s oversight authority on Afghanistan reconstruction, SIGAR, recorded a 50 per cent increase in Taliban violence over the past three months. 

Bamyan — home to the Buddha statues blown up by the militants in March 2001 — has in recent years been deemed Afghanistan’s safest province, attracting over 400,000 tourists last year alone, including 400 from abroad. Ahead of the pandemic, the rugged mountain province was due to break its visitor record this year. 

Just over a year ago, it became the first province to be declared mine-free. 

We have seen unexpected Taliban attacks in rural districts in recent months,” Mr Azimi said, adding that several of the neighbouring provinces — Baghlan and Sar-e-Pol — provided a gateway for the militants to enter. “Of course we worry,” he added. “Bamyan was Afghanistan’s safe haven.”

A three hour drive from Kabul and with inadequate healthcare in the province, some of the casualties are expected to be taken to the Afghan capital. 

“Until now, it was the only place I’d feel safe walking around without the fear of being killed,” a local journalist said. “I can’t get out of my country and Bamyan provided a place for me to relax.”

The blasts happened as the international community pledged financial assistance for the war-torn country in Geneva.