FAIZABAD: A blast shook a Taliban military base near the airport in Faizabad, the capital of Afghanistan’s northeastern Badakhshan province, but without causing casualties, officials said on Tuesday.

The Taliban official confirmed on condition of anonymity that an explosion had occurred at the base but would not provide further details.

A roadside IED exploded near the base but no one was killed or wounded, Badakhshan police spokesman Ehsanullah Kamgar told AFP.

He said the authorities suspected the IED was not new but rather left over from before the Taliban takeover in 2021.

The explosion was heard some two kilometres (over a mile) away from the airport, local residents said.

The area around the site was cordoned off by authorities.

The base is next to the city’s small airstrip, which is not currently served by commercial airlines.

Published in Dawn, March 6th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

Military convictions
Updated 22 Dec, 2024

Military convictions

Pakistan’s democracy, still finding its feet, cannot afford such compromises on core democratic values.
Need for talks
22 Dec, 2024

Need for talks

FOR a long time now, the country has been in the grip of relentless political uncertainty, featuring the...
Vulnerable vaccinators
22 Dec, 2024

Vulnerable vaccinators

THE campaign to eradicate polio from Pakistan cannot succeed unless the safety of vaccinators and security personnel...
Strange claim
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Strange claim

In all likelihood, Pakistan and US will continue to be ‘frenemies'.
Media strangulation
Updated 21 Dec, 2024

Media strangulation

Administration must decide whether it wishes to be remembered as an enabler or an executioner of press freedom.
Israeli rampage
21 Dec, 2024

Israeli rampage

ALONG with the genocide in Gaza, Israel has embarked on a regional rampage, attacking Arab and Muslim states with...