KABUL, Afghanistan: At least 10 people were injured early Thursday morning when an explosion rocked the Taliban police headquarters in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, Afghan media reported.
The blast reportedly occurred inside an old ammunition container belonging to the Department of Counter-Narcotics, situated within the Taliban’s purification commission at the police command compound. The explosion was confirmed by Taliban police spokesman Mullah Asadullah Jamshid, cited by the Pajhwok Afghan News, said that the incident involved old munitions stored on the premises.
Of the 10 injured, four were Taliban police personnel who had been guarding the container at the time of the explosion, Jamshid said.
Citing eyewitnesses and official sources, Khama Press News Agency reported that the explosion took place around 6:00am and was followed by gunfire. Video footage shared online captured scenes of chaos, with thick smoke billowing from the compound and the sound of intermittent gunfire echoing in the background.
The Taliban police headquarters is located in central Kandahar, directly across from the Ain-o-Mina neighbourhood in the city’s fifth police district. Emergency vehicles, including ambulances, were seen rushing to the site, underscoring the severity of the blast.
The incident has heightened security concerns in Kandahar, a region considered the political and spiritual heartland of the Taliban. Kandahar is also the residence of the Taliban’s supreme leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, along with several senior members of the group’s leadership council, many of whom are based in the Ain-o-Mina district, Khama reported.
