Avalanche Kills 15 in Eastern Afghanistan

An avalanche struck the mountainous eastern portions of Afghanistan on Monday, killing at least 15 people, according to government media.

According to local officials in Pakistan's Kunar region, 20 inpiduals were stuck under the snow in the avalanche, according to Bakhtar News Agency. The bodies of 15 persons have been discovered, while five others remain unaccounted for.

The incident took place in the Dangam district, a mountainous location southwest of Asadabad, the province capital.

The officials said that rescue teams in the area were working to remove the snow and recover the missing people. They were also shifting people to safe places.

In 2017, at least 13 people were killed, including women and children, in avalanches in Kunar's Chapa Dara district.

Last month, local officials say a bombing blast on a minibus in Herat, Afghanistan’s western metropolis, has killed at least seven people and injured numerous others, according to ABNA.

On Saturday, the bombing took place near a bus terminal in an area of the country’s third-largest city that is home to the minority Shia Hazara group. Prior to the explosion, a sticky bomb was connected to the vehicle’s fuel tank. In addition, nine people were injured.

“Four women were among the seven dead,” Arif Jalali, the chief of Herat’s provincial hospital, told AFP.

The incident was also confirmed by Sabit Harwi, a spokeswoman for Herat’s intelligence agency. “According to initial reports, it was a sticky bomb affixed to the passenger vehicle’s gasoline tank.”

The bombing was also confirmed by the Herat provincial police and the ministry of culture.

No one has claimed credit for the attack so far, but Taliban leaders have previously blamed the Daesh Takfiri terrorist group for similar attacks on civilians.

Daesh has a presence in eastern and northern Afghanistan, primarily in Nangarhar, the war-torn country’s de facto capital. It has recently claimed credit for a number of strikes in Afghanistan.

The Hazara ethnic group, the poorest of Afghanistan’s ethnic groupings, makes up around 22% of the country’s population. Daesh has already targeted its members in a number of large-scale kidnappings and killings across Afghanistan.