Second bombing in two days rock Afghan capital ahead of Eid al Fitr holiday

Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack as the country prepares to mark Eid al Fitr on Sunday under Taliban rule for the first time in more than 20 years

Security concerns have risen across Afghanistan as the country prepares to mark Eid al Fitr on Sunday under Taliban rule for the first time in more than 20 years.
Reuters

Security concerns have risen across Afghanistan as the country prepares to mark Eid al Fitr on Sunday under Taliban rule for the first time in more than 20 years.

A bomb blast in a passenger van in Kabul has killed at least one person, in the second explosion in the Afghan capital in two days, as security concerns rise on the eve of the Muslim holiday of Eid al Fitr.

"One woman was killed and three more injured," Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for Kabul's commander, said on Saturday.

One witness to the passenger van blast, Ali Maisam, 19, who was waiting outside a nearby bakery at the time, said he saw a number of bodies.

"I saw people coming out of the minibus with bloody and burnt faces... I saw that four bodies were taken out and a woman was among the dead,” he said.

Daesh has claimed responsibility for the attack, Reuters news agency cites the terror group's Telegram account.

A day earlier, an explosion killed more than 50 worshippers after Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque amid a spate of mosque attacks during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

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Security concerns

Security concerns have risen across Afghanistan as the country prepares to mark Eid al Fitr on Sunday under Taliban rule for the first time in more than 20 years, after the group was removed from power following a US invasion in 2001.

The Taliban retook power last August after foreign forces pulled out of the country.

Taliban authorities announced on Saturday that Eid would be marked the following day, leading to raucous rounds of celebratory gunfire in the streets of Kabul late on Saturday night.

The authorities also moved to assuage people's fears over security ahead of Eid.

"We ensure our countrymen we will ensure security during Eid," spokesman for Afghan interior ministry Abdul Nafee Takor said.

READ MORE: Deadly blasts rock school in Kabul's Shia Hazara neighbourhood

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