A suicide attacker detonated his explosive in the Dasht-e-Archi district of Kunduz province early Friday, killing at least eight people, including the Governor of Dasht-e-Archi District, Sheikh Sadrruddin, and wounding sixteen others.
Syed Sarwar Hussaini, spokesman of the Kunduz Police Department confirmed the attack and said that it occured on Friday morning outside a mosque where the District Governor was due to attend a ceremony. The attacker blew himself up in front of the mosque, killing Mr. Sadrruddin, his two bodyguards and number of bystanders.
"At least eight civilians, including the Dasht-e-Archi district's Governor Sheikh Sadrruddin were killed, and sixteen others wounded. The majority of the victims were civilians," said Mr. Hussaini.
All the wounded were rushed to the Kunduz City Hospital for treatment. Many are said to be still in critical conditions.
Over the past week, several suicide attacks have been carried out by insurgents targeting government and security officials in Kabul, Helmand and Kunduz provinces.
Suicide attacks are one of the Taliban's most common tactics against the Afghan forces and their foreign counterparts. However, frequently civilians are the collateral damage of such attacks.
Last month, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) released its mid-year report titled-"Mid-Year Report (2013) on Civilian Casualties Due to Armed Conflict in Afghanistan." The report cited a whopping 23 percent increase in civilian casualties as a result of armed conflicts in Afghanistan.
The mid-year report documented 1,319 civilian deaths and 2,533 injuries (3,852 casualties) from January to June 2013, marking a 14 percent increase in deaths, 28 percent increase in injuries and 23 percent increase in total civilian casualties compared to the same period in 2012.
The organisation blamed the Taliban for causing the majority of civilianz casualties, followed by the Afghan National Security Force (ANSF) and Afghan Local Police (ALP).