MAZAR-E-SHARIF: Premature blast badly injured the mine planter in the northern Mazar-e-Sharif city the capital of Balkh province on Wednesday, provincial police spokesman Mohammad Asif Waziri said.
“A terrorist was attempting to plant a mine on a road in Police District 4 of Mazar-e-Sharif city to target innocent people but the device exploded prematurely at 11:30 a.m. local time badly injuring the mine planter,” Waziri asserted.
The security personnel have taken the injured terrorist to hospital, the official added without providing more details.
In the meantime, a source on the condition of anonymity has confirmed that six injured persons, one in critical condition had been taken to Avicenna Balkhi hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif city.
No group or individual has claimed responsibility.
The blast took place after the security forces arrested a suspected operative of the hardliner Daesh or Islamic State outfit in the northern Balkh province a day earlier on Tuesday.
Security forces of the Islamic Emirate arrested a man on charge of having affiliation with the hardliner Daesh or the (Islamic State) outfit in the northern Balkh province, the state-run news agency Bakhtar reported Wednesday.
The arrested man, according to the state-controlled media outlet was attempting to conduct subversive activities but identified and arrested before committing the crime.
Giving his name Shakirullah and a resident of the eastern Kunar province, the arrested man has confirmed his affiliation with the rival Daesh or the Islamic State group, Bakhar asserted.
The state-controlled news agency also asserted that the “arrested Daesh operative Shakirullah was located in Balkh province” before committing terrorist activities there.
This is the third time that Afghan security forces have attacked and killed suspected Islamic State outfit’s operatives in the northern Takhar and Balkh provinces over the past couple of months.
The Islamic Emirate has downplayed Daesh as a security threat, saying the caretaker government won’t allow Afghanistan soil to be used against any country.
The Kabul Times
Mine planter badly injured in own blast in Balkh
