A suicide bomber in western Afghanistan targets the governor’s office and wounds 3 guards

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A suicide bomber targeted the provincial governor’s office in western Afghanistan on Sunday and wounded three security guards, said a Taliban official.

The attacker detonated his suicide vest as he was shot by security guards while trying to enter inside the governor’s compound in Zaranj, the capital of Nimroz province, Abdul Mateen Qani, the spokesman for the Taliban’s interior minister, wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

No one has immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group’s affiliate has increased attacks in capital Kabul as well as in other parts of the country since the beginning of the year.

The IS group has carried out major assaults on schools, hospitals and mosques and also has attacked Shiite areas across the country in the last few years. It’s been a major rival of the Taliban since the latter seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021, as U.S. and other troops withdrew.