Explosion rocks Kabul cricket stadium during T20 match

While visuals from the incident showed the audience running, the players of both the team were rushed inside a bunker.

Screengrabs from a video after the blast

Kabul: A bomb explosion rocked Afghanistan’s capital city of Kabul during an Afghanistan Premier T20 match at the Alokozay Kabul International Cricket Ground. The bomb went off at the audience gallery on Friday evening. According to reports, it was a suicide blast.

While visuals from the incident showed the audience running, the players of both the team were rushed inside a bunker. According to sources, officials of the United Nations were also present at the stadium during the blast.

The blast took place during the 22nd league match of the Shpageeza Cricket League between Pamir Zalmi and the Band-e-Amir Dragons at the international stadium. The Kabul Police confirmed the incident but there is still no news on the casualties so far. At least nine persons were wounded.

Ever since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, terror attacks have become common in Kabul. The main target of these attacks are religious monuments and most of the attacks are by the Islamic State.

Earlier this week, a bomb exploded near the Karte Parwan Gurudwara in Kabul following another blast last month, when Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) attacked the Gurudwara, which killed dozens of Sikhs and members of Taliban.

The blast at the cricket stadium reportedly involves an improvised explosive device (IED) which was placed in the stands. Moments after the blast, the second innings was underway.

The Shpageeza Cricket League, a T20 league like IPL, was started in 2013 by the Afghanistan Cricket Board. Initially, the tournament featured five teams, and the inaugural edition was won by the Speenghar Tigers, but soon, three more teams were added to the tournament.

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