At least 26 people have been killed and 18 others wounded after a suicide bomber blew himself up near a Shi’ite shrine in Kabul on Wednesday, said officials.
The explosion, near the shrine in the west of Afghan capital, came as the city was celebrating the Nawruz holiday marking the start of the Persian new year, reports Reuters.
Nasrat Rahimi, deputy interior ministry spokesman, said the bomber blew himself up near the Kart-e Sakhi shrine, a target of previous militant attacks.
The latest explosion to hit Kabul underlined the threat to the city from militant attacks despite government promises to tighten security in the wake of an attack in January that killed around 100 people.
Wednesday’s blast occurred when people were walking away from the shrine, near the city’s main university.
Nawruz, an ancient Persian celebration of the start of spring, is widely celebrated in Afghanistan but has also faced opposition from some fundamentalist Muslims, who say it is un-Islamic.