Blasts spark international condemnation

KABUL (Tolo News): The blasts that occurred in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif in Balkh drew strong reactions at both the national and international level. Former President Hamid Karzai on Twitter condemned the blasts, saying unity and national dialogue are the “only way to save the country.
Karzai also offered his condolences to the families of the victims. The US special envoy for Afghanistan Thomas West said in a tweet that the US “condemns the cowardly terrorist attacks in Mazar-i-Sharif and Kabul” and “this violence serves no purpose.”
The US special envoy for Afghan women and human rights, Rina Amiri, also reacted to the blasts. “The heinous attacks in Mazar & Kabul serve no purpose but to inflict further devastation on innocent Afghans who have suffered enough,” she said, “Preventing these horrid attacks & addressing the security & needs of all Afghans should be what the Taliban focus on.” At least nine people were killed and 15 others were wounded in three separate blasts in Mazar-e-Sharif, the capital city of Balkh province, a local official said.
Mohammad Asif Waziri, a spokesman for the provincial department of security, said that the first blast took place in PD 5 and two back-to-back blasts occurred in PD 10 of Mazar-e-Sharif. In the evening of the same day, another blast took place near a mosque in PD 4 of capital Kabul. The department of Kabul security put the number of casualties at two wounded, but Emergency Hospital tweeted they have received 22 victims from the mosque blast, 5 of whom were dead on arrival.