At Least Eight Killed In Attacks Targeting Minibuses In Kabul

The first blast killed four civilians, including two women, and wounded four others.

Afghan officials say that at least eight people have been killed in two bomb blasts targeting minibuses in the capital.

Kabul police spokesman Ferdous Farmarz said on June 3 that both blasts occurred in neighborhoods that are home to the Shi’ite Hazara minority.

Farmarz said the first blast killed four civilians, including two women, and wounded four others. The second blast claimed the lives of another four civilians and wounded five others.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

Both Taliban and Islamic State (IS) militants carry out bombings in Afghanistan.

On June 1, IS militants claimed back-to-back attacks on two buses in the Afghan capital that killed at least 10 people.

Violence has intensified since the start of the international military withdrawal on May 1. There are fears that violence could further escalate once all foreign troops depart the country by September.

The Pentagon has indicated that the pace of the withdrawal is picking up. As of May 30, U.S. Central Command estimated it had completed 30-44 percent of the so-called "retrograde" process.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said the alliance's exit from Afghanistan is “progressing in an orderly and coordinated way” ahead of a planned complete pullout by September 11.

But major issues remain over how the 30-nation alliance will continue to fund the corruption-ridden Afghan security forces, whether to continue training special forces troops somewhere outside the country, and what forces will protect civilian workers, embassies, and the Kabul airport.