Two days after the Taliban deputy for Badakhshan province was killed in a car bomb explosion, on Thursday, another explosion targeted his funeral at a mosque in the city of Faizabad, the center of northeastern Badakhshan province, where senior Taliban officials had attended.
There are many conflicting reports about the casualties of the blast but sources said that a number of local residents were also killed or wounded in the attack.
Moezuddin Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman in Badakhshan, confirmed to Amu that at least 12 people were killed and 33 more were wounded.
Safiullah Samimi, Taliban’s former police chief for Baghlan, was also killed in the attack. He was removed as Taliban’s Baghlan police chief seven months back. Sources said Samimi was a key Taliban commander close to the Kandahar branch of the Taliban.
The number of civilians killed in the attack is not known yet but a number of former politicians, including former president Hamid Karzai, in a tweet condemned the blast and said many local residents were killed in the bombing.
On Wednesday, June 7, the Taliban’s army chief who attended the burial ceremony for the Taliban deputy governor for Badakhshan, warned that Daesh will be suppressed. Analysts questioned the Taliban’s ability to thwart threats posed by insurgent groups in the country, especially when they harm civilians.
“They are well acquainted with insurgent fight and the tactics of insurgent fight and terrorism, but they are not familiar with the tactics and counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism,” Aryan Sharifi, former head of the department of reviewing threats at the National Security Council under the previous government.
So far, the Khorasan branch of Daesh has not officially claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack, but the group has claimed responsibility for such attacks against the Taliban in the past, not only in Badakhshan but also in other parts of the country.
“The Taliban considers Daesh as a threat and the Taliban leaders are thinking about their own lives because at one time they were afraid of American drones, now they have the same fear of a suicide bomber from Daesh that will enter their office to kill them,” said Michael Sample, former deputy head of EU mission in Afghanistan.
Thursday’s attack was the fourth big attack on Taliban authorities in Badakhshan province over the past year. Back in December, the Taliban’s police chief was killed in a bombing in the city of Faizabad.
