Gunmen launch deadly ambush on airport bus in Afghanistan

At least two people have been killed and six others wounded when heavily-armed gunmen fired at a bus ferrying airport employees in northern Afghanistan.

Balkh Provincial Police Spokesman Mohammad Asif Waziri said the bus was ambushed by two gunmen on its way to the Mazar-i-Sharif airport on Sunday. “The vehicle came under attack when the technical team was on its way to the airport.”

Foreign airlines have still not resumed flights to Kabul and other Afghan cities since the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the Sunday attacks, which come amid a political and security crisis in the country. The ambush was the latest in a series of deadly attacks that have hit Afghanistan in recent months.

On Saturday, a powerful explosion targeting a minibus in the capital Kabul killed at least four people and injured several others.

Dozens of civilians have been killed in Kabul and other cities in a series of deadly attacks over the past few months, with some attacks claimed by the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group. Many of those attacks targeted the Hazara Shia Muslim community.

The Hazara community, the poorest of the country’s ethnic groups, accounts for about 22 percent of Afghanistan’s population. Its members have been targeted in several large-scale kidnappings and killings across Afghanistan in the past.

Daesh has a foothold in eastern and northern Afghanistan, particularly in Nangarhar Province, which is regarded as its base in the war-torn country. It has recently claimed responsibility for several attacks across Afghanistan. Since seizing power, the Taliban have regularly raided suspected Daesh hideouts in the province. Taliban officials insist their forces have defeated Daesh, but analysts say the terrorist group is a key security challenge.