Bomb blast kills 3 Taliban security personnel in northern Badakhshan

A bomb explosion in Afghanistan’s volatile northeastern Badakhshan province Wednesday killed at least three Taliban security personnel and wounded six others.

Multiple sources, including residents and area hospital officials, confirmed the casualties. They said that a “sticky improvised explosive device” apparently planted on a motorbike struck a Taliban military convoy in the provincial capital, Faizabad.

The Taliban’s Interior Ministry spokesman confirmed the casualties, saying the bomb targeted a unit of security forces that were heading to illegal poppy fields to destroy them.

The eadly blast came a day after the Taliban’s army chief, Fasihuddin Fitrat, said in a video message that he had addressed complaints of protesting farmers and resolved the unrest. He insisted on receiving public support for poppy eradication.