Suicide bomb blast in Afghanistan kills 30

 

An injured Afghan man tries to use his mobile phone after a suicide attack near a bank in Jalalabad, east of Kabul. Photo / AP

Kabul: A suicide bomb attack on a bank branch in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad has killed at least 30 people, officials said.
Ahmad Zia Abdulzai, spokesman for the provincial governor in Nangarhar province, said last night more than 80 people were also injured in the attack in the provincial capital.
"There are reports of many wounded people in critical condition at the hospital," Abdulzai said.
The attacker had detonated an explosive-laden motorcycle, targeting a crowd of military personnel and civilians outside the bank to receive their monthly salaries. The bank branch was in the heart of a crowded commercial district, Abdulzai said.
Another blast was reported Saturday near a shrine in Jalalabad, but no one was hurt. A third blast was also heard in the city, but it was later reported as a controlled explosion by the Afghan Army in Nangarhar, Abdulzai said.

Meanwhile, another bombing in the Behsud district of Nangarhar province killed one civilian and wounded two others, Abdulzai said, adding it appeared a magnetic bomb was attached to a parked car and then detonated by remote control.
The Pakistani Government, which is co-ordinating with Afghanistan on counterterrorism issues, condemned the attacks. A statement released by the Pakistani Foreign Ministry called the bombings cowardly and indiscriminate, and said attacks against civilians had no justification under any circumstances.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.