Blast hits Afghanistan's Balkh province days after explosion killed its governor

Taliban authorities were already investigating the explosion that killed the provincial governor, Mawlawi Mohammad Dawood Muzamil, and two others at his office on Thursday.

A blast hit the capital of Afghanistan's northern Balkh province on Saturday, police said, days after an explosion claimed by Islamic State killed the province's governor.

Taliban security personnel (R) block a road in Mazar-i-Sharif on March 9, 2023, following a blast at the office of Taliban governor of Afghanistan's Balkh province. - Mohammad Dawood Muzammil, the Taliban governor of Afghanistan's Balkh province, was killed in a blast at his office on March 9, the province's police spokesman said.(AFP)

"A blast has taken placed in the second police district of Balkh," said Mohamad Asif Waziri, Balkh's police spokesperson. "We will share details later." He said the authorities did not expect a high number of casualties but were investigating.

A journalist based in Balkh, Mohammad Fardin Nowrozi, told Reuters he and several other journalists were injured in the explosion, but did not provide further details.

The cause of the blast was not immediately clear.

Taliban authorities were already investigating the explosion that killed the provincial governor, Mawlawi Mohammad Dawood Muzamil, and two others at his office on Thursday.

The governor of Afghanistan's southern province of Kandahar will temporarily run Balkh, his spokesman Haji Zaid told Reuters, until Supreme Spiritual Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada selects a new governor for the northern province, an important trade hub with Central Asia.