KABUL
\nA bomb blast in a passenger van in Kabul on Saturday killed at least one person, officials said, 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. Islamic state claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, according to the group\u2019s telegram channel.
\n\u201cOne woman was killed and three more injured,\u201d Khalid Zadran, a spokesman for Kabul\u2019s commander, told Reuters.
\nA 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. read more
\nOne 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.
\n\u201cI 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,\u201d he said.
\nSecurity 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 U.S. invasion in 2001.
\nThe Taliban retook power last August after foreign forces pulled out of the country and since then Afghanistan grapples with a rise in attacks by Islamic State.
\nTaliban 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.
\nThe authorities also moved to assuage people\u2019s fears over security ahead of Eid.
\n\u201cWe ensure our countrymen we will ensure security during Eid,\u201d spokesman for Afghan interior ministry Abdul Nafee Takor said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KABUL A bomb blast in a passenger van in Kabul on Saturday killed at least one person, officials said, 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. Islamic state claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday, according to […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258572,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[4972,1814,6746],"class_list":{"0":"post-258546","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-bomb-blast","9":"tag-kabul","10":"tag-passenger-van"},"yoast_head":"\n