<div><span style="font-size: 1rem;">A bomb blast in a busy shopping street in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Saturday killed at least eight people and injured 22, hospital officials and witnesses said.</span><br></div><div><br></div><div>The bomb exploded in a western district of the city where members of the minority Shiite Muslim community regularly meet. Daesh, a militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group said on its Telegram channel.</div><div><br></div><div>A senior medical officer at a private hospital said at least eight people died and 22 were wounded.</div><div><br></div><div>An Interior Ministry spokesman said an investigation team was at the blast site to help the wounded and assess casualties.</div><div><br></div><div>Video footage posted online showed ambulances rushing to the scene, which is also near bus stations.</div><div><br></div><div>The attack came ahead of Ashura, a commemoration of the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, which is marked mainly by Shiite Muslims.</div><div>On Friday, at least eight people were killed and 18 injured in a blast in Kabul carried out by Daesh.</div><div><br></div><div>Daesh does not control any territory in Afghanistan but it has sleeper cells that have been attacking religious minorities in the country as well as patrols by the ruling Taliban.</div><div>The Sunni Muslim Taliban authorities, who took over Afghanistan in August last year after a two-decade insurgency, have said they will provide more protection for Shiite mosques and other facilities.</div><div><br></div><div>Sayed Kazum Hojat, a Shiite religious scholar in Kabul, said the Taliban government had ramped up security ahead of Ashura but should improve vigilance.</div><div><br></div><div>No up-to-date census data exists, but estimates put the size of the Shiite community at between 10-20 percent of the population of 39 million, including Persian-speaking Tajiks and Pashtuns as well as Hazaras. -arabnews</div><div><br></div><div>bnbd24/TR</div>