Bomb blast kills 14 in Afghanistan

Over a dozen people including a senior local Afghan official have died in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan’s northeastern province of Baghlan.
The bomb attack was carried out in front of the provincial council building in the city of Pul-e-Khumri on Monday. Fourteen people were killed in the explosion.

The deputy provincial police chief, Sadeq Muradi, said the head of the provincial council, Rasoul Mohseni, and his bodyguards were among the dead. Muradi added that nine people also sustained injuries.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the bomb attack.

Afghan authorities have launched an investigation into the blast.

Thousands of people have been killed in attacks carried out by the Taliban militant group and the US-led foreign forces in Afghanistan over the past years.

Violence continues to plague the country despite the presence of thousands of foreign forces, more than a decade after the US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001.

According to a UN report released in February, over 2,750 people died and more than 4,800 were injured in attacks in Afghanistan last year.