Bus bombing, a new tactic to spread death and fear in Afghanistan

Terrorist groups are using a new tactic to spread fear in Afghanistan, especially among the Shi'ite Muslim Hazaras minority, planting bombs on crowded buses that led to large civilian casualties.

Iran PressAsia: At least four civilians were killed and five others wounded in an explosion in Kabul on Thursday evening. An IED targeted a passenger vehicle in the Pul-e-Sokhta area in the west of the city.

The explosion took place hours after a private car was targeted in a magnetic IED explosion in the Charqala neighborhood in the same area. Four people were killed and four others wounded in that explosion.

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This comes amid a surge in explosions targeting civilians in the western parts of Kabul city in the past few days.

IED blasts on Tuesday targeted two public transport Coaster buses in two different places in the Sar-e-Kariz and Almas-e-Gharb Street areas, only a kilometer away from Thursday evening’s blast.

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Attacks targeted two buses in an area dominated by Shi'ite Muslim Hazaras that killed at least 12 people and wounded 10, raising new fears in the community and alarming security officials who say such attacks are nearly impossible to stop.

Four people were killed and four wounded in the same neighborhood on Thursday when a bomb blew up a passenger van, police said.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the Tuesday attacks.

A senior security official said the bombing of public transport was a worrying new threat in the city of seven million people.

"Our enemies change tactics ... this is a new threat, a new trend," said the official, who declined to be identified.

According to a Reuters report, nearly 1,800 civilians were killed or wounded in the first three months of 2021 during fighting between government forces and insurgents despite efforts to find peace; the United Nations said last month.

The United States has announced a plan to withdraw all of its troops by Sept 11, exactly two decades after the US launched a new round of war in Afghanistan.

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