Taliban: Explosion Kills 9 Children in Eastern Afghanistan

Taliban: Explosion Kills 9 Children in Eastern Afghanistan
This picture taken from Google Maps shows Lalopar, in eastern Nagarhar, Kabul, Afghanistan. Google Maps/Screenshot via The Epoch Times
The Associated Press
Updated:

KABUL, Afghanistan—An explosion in eastern Afghanistan near the border with Pakistan on Monday killed nine children and wounded four, according to the office of a Taliban-appointed governor.

A statement from the governor’s office said the blast took place when a cart selling food items struck an old, unexploded mortar shell in the district of Lalopar, in eastern Nagarhar province.

No other details were immediately available.

The province is the headquarters of Taliban rivals, the ISIS terrorist group, which has staged several attacks targeting Afghanistan’s new rulers since the Taliban took over the country in mid-August. However, the ISIS has operated in Afghanistan since 2014, carrying out dozens of horrific attacks and most often targeting the country’s minority Shiite Muslims.