Deadly suicide bombing hits bank in Afghan city of Kandahar

A suicide bomber carried out an attack at a private bank in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, killing at least three people and injuring 12 others, officials said.

All of the victims were people who had gathered at the branch of New Kabul Bank to collect their monthly salaries, Inamullah Samangani, head of the government's Kandahar Information and Culture Department, said on Thursday.

Abdul Mateen Qani, spokesman for the Interior Ministry of the Taliban's interim government, also confirmed the attack but couldn’t provide more details. He said it was being investigated.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the bombing. Daesh terror group has conducted previous attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.

Kandahar City is a spiritual and political centre for Afghanistan’s rulers because the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, is based there and his decisions on major issues are implemented by authorities in Kabul, the capital.