Suicide bomb hits memorial service for Taliban official in northeast Afghanistan, killing 13 people

By RAHIM FAIEZ
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — A Taliban official says a bombing in Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province killed at least 13 people during a memorial service. A former Taliban police official was among those killed and more than 30 were wounded in the attack. Local authorities later said a suicide bomber hit on Thursday near Nabawi Mosque, where a memorial service was underway for Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Badakhshan who was killed in a car bomb explosion two days earlier. Tuesday’s attack in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, also killed his driver. A Taliban official in charge of information and culture said Thursday’s blast killed Safiullah Samim, a former Taliban police chief in Baghlan.