Bomb kills at least 21 in north Afghanistan: officials

The Afghan interior ministry says all those killed on Saturday evening in Khanabad district were civilians

KUNDUZ, AFGHANISTAN: A bomb explosion killed at least 21 people in Afghanistan's restive northern province of Kunduz, officials said Sunday.

The Afghan interior ministry said all those killed on Saturday evening in Khanabad district were civilians, although local officials called them anti-Taliban militiamen.

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"The incident took place (when) a suicide bomber detonated his suicide vest in Khanabad district," the interior ministry said, strongly condemning the "heinous act".

"The suicide attack... resulted in martyrdom of 21 civilians and wounding of 10 others."

But Abdul Wadood Wahidi, spokesperson for the governor of Kunduz, said 22 militiamen -- including four of their commanders -- were killed by an improvised explosive device.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which comes after a barrage of bombings in Kabul killed at least 51 people on Friday, the deadliest day for the capital in years.

The explosions, which devastated buildings and overwhelmed hospitals with hundreds of casualties, were the first major militant assaults on the capital since the announcement of Taliban leader Mullah Omar's death.

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The wave of violence has underscored Afghanistan's volatile security situation amid a faltering peace process and the potency of the Taliban insurgency, despite it being riven by growing internal divisions.