The deadly attack hit a bazaar in northern Afghanistan claiming the lives of 6 locals and injuring many others on October 3. In the immediate aftermath of the attack a member of the provincial council claimed that “some 80 people sustained injuries,” but later the number of 40 wounded was officially confirmed.

An improvised explosive device hidden in a motorbike went off around at 10.30 a.m. in the midst of innocent civilians who were busy in shopping in the marketplace in Darzab district of Jawzjan, a province on the border with Turkmenistan which not so long ago was considered as relatively safe and calm. As Monday is a market day, the bazaar was even more crowded, which explains such a high number of casualties. “Most of the people coming here are poor, who want to purchase things on discount. Farmers also sell their products on Mondays,” says Asadullah, one of the local residents.

Initially this terrorist act was attributed to the Taliban, as it happened against a background of other attacks launched by this militant group on the same day in various parts of the country, as President Ashraf Ghani was heading Brussels for a key international aid conference. However, the Taliban spokesman said that “militants were not involved in the incident and local Taliban were unaware who conducted the attack.” The Afghan authorities called those behind the attack “enemies of the people of Afghanistan.”

According to the UN, only in the period of January-June 2016 1,601 civilians lost their lives and 3,565 others were injured in Afghanistan.

To know more, read:

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-afghanistan-blast-idUSKCN123187
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2016-10/03/c_135730481.htm
http://www.outlookafghanistan.net/assets/epaper/October%2004,%202016/Main%20Page.pdf
http://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/protection_of_civilians_in_armed_conflict_midyear_report_2016_final_rev.1-9sept.pdf