Blast at Nowruz function kills 2 in Afghanistan's Kandahar

A bomb exploded at a Persian new year function in the Khakrez district of Southern Kandahar province, killing a senior government officer and a policeman. Brig. Gen. Abdul Razzaq told Pajhwok Afghan News seven people were wounded in the Friday blast. A large number of people, including government officials, were among participants of the event marking Nowruz. The district police chief, his deputy and three policemen were among seven wounded in the explosion at the Shah Agha mausoleum in Khakrez, he said. The dead included the provincial media center chief Pervez Najib. Gen. Razzaq added the explosives placed in a corner of the mausoleum were detonated with a remote-control device at about 10 a.m. But a security official, who did not want to be named, revealed Deputy Governor Abdul Qadim Patyal and Deputy Mayor Mohammad Nasim Rezaee were also among the injured. Meanwhile, the Ministry of Interior put the number of injured at 13. A statement from the ministry said one policeman was killed in the bombing.