A roadside bomb struck a bus in Afghanistan overnight killing at least 11 people just hours before the Taliban announced a three-day ceasefire to mark this week’s Eid al-Fitr holiday, the interior ministry said Monday.
The attack in restive Zabul province left another 28 people wounded, interior ministry spokesman Tareq Arian told reporters.
The Taliban on Monday declared a three-day ceasefire in Afghanistan to mark this week’s Eid al-Fitr holiday, just two days after the government blamed the insurgents for bombs outside a school that killed more than 50 people, mostly young girls.
Eid-ul-Fitr marks the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and the holiday begins according to the sighting of the new moon.
The ceasefire comes after the government blamed the Taliban for the attack outside a girls’ school in Dasht-e-Barchi, a suburb of the capital largely populated by the Shiite Hazara community, which is often targeted by extremist Sunni Islamist militants.
The Taliban have denied they were involved in the attack, the deadliest in the country in more than a year.
Saturday’s blasts came as the United States continues to pull out its last 2,500 troops from the violence-wracked country despite faltering peace efforts between the Taliban and Afghan government to end a decades-long war.
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