Afghanistan: Blast at journalist award event kills 1, many injured

A bomb blast in northern Afghanistan on Saturday took the life of one person, while several others, including children, sustained injuries. The explosion reportedly occurred at the Tabian Farhang Center in the Balkh province's capital of Mazar-i-Sharif as numerous journalists assembled for an award ceremony, the Taliban-appointed Balkh Police spokesperson, Mohammad Asif Waziri, was quoted as saying by the news agency Associated Press (AP).

While the number of fatalities in Saturday's bomb blast is yet to be officially revealed, initial reports said one person was killed while five others, including journalists, were injured. They included Najeeb Faryad, an Aryana News television station reporter, who said he felt like something struck him in the back after the blast, followed by a loud noise before he collapsed on the ground.

Meanwhile, the police have confirmed that the person killed in the incident was a security guard. According to the Balkh Police spokesperson, three children present at the event also sustained injuries in the blast. While nobody has claimed responsibility for the blast so far, a key regional rival of the Taliban, the Islamic State (IS) in Khorasan Province, is suspected to be behind it.

This blast on Saturday came just a couple of days after a suicide bomber killed Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the Taliban's governor for the northern Balkh province, on Thursday in an attack for which the IS reportedly claimed responsibility. The attack in the provincial capital, Mazar-i-Sharif, marked the assassination of one of the top-ranked officials since the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Journalists in Afghanistan were regularly targeted before the Taliban claimed power in Afghanistan, with numerous attacks claimed by the IS. Violence across the country has significantly reduced since the Taliban took control. However, the terror group emerged as the biggest safety challenge to the Taliban-led government since 2022. The IS has been known for carrying out attacks on civilians and foreigners in Afghanistan.

The IS has significantly ramped up its attacks in Afghanistan in the past two years. The terror group's targets have previously included members of Afghanistan's Shiite minority and Taliban patrols, too. While the Taliban and IS share the same Sunni Islamist ideology, the latter intends to form a global "caliphate," as opposed to the former's inward-looking goal of ruling an independent Afghanistan.