Deadly Blast Hits Afghanistan’s Herat Province

At least eight people, including children, have been killed and several others wounded in a bomb blast in Afghanistan’s western Herat province, according to a government official.  Explosives planted in an auto-rickshaw detonated late afternoon on Monday near a mosque in the Shindand district, Jillani Farhad, the Herat governor’s spokesman, said. He said the explosion took place at a busy market in the district, Aljazeera reported. The provincial ambulance services head told Pajhwok news agency that 17 people had been injured in the blast. Images circulating on social media showed the debris and damage in the aftermath of the explosion. The Afghan Taliban denied via Twitter involvement in Monday’s attack. Herat, one of Afghanistan’s largest provinces, is located in the southwest of the country. Monday’s explosion comes after at least one person was killed and seven others wounded in an explosion outside a Shia mosque in Herat city last month. The self-styled Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility for that attack.