INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
There was no immediate claim of responsibility
(Representational)Kandahar: A bomb in a minibus exploded near a security checkpoint in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Tuesday
causing numerous casualties, officials said, as attacks continue during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.The blast, near one of the city's
main markets, sent a huge cloud of dust and smoke into the air.Nematullah Barak, head of Mirwais hospital in Kandahar, said six dead and
more 30 wounded, including several children, had so far brought in but more casualties were arriving.A statement from the NDS intelligence
service said the minibus, packed with explosives, was discovered in a large open yard of mechanics workshops but blew up before it could be
defused.There was no immediate claim of responsibility.Hundreds of people have been killed or wounded in high-profile bomb attacks since the
beginning of the year, many in the capital Kabul but provincial cities have also been hit as the Taliban, seeking to reimpose hardline
Islamic rule, have stepped up fighting across the country.Kandahar province, on the border with Pakistan, is a major centre of opium
cultivation and a stronghold of the Taliban but the city itself has recently been relatively secure.(Reporting by Sarwar Amani and Qadir
Sediqi in KABUL; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Nick Macfie)© Thomson Reuters 2018(Except for the headline, this story has not been
edited by TheIndianSubcontinent staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
