A huge car bomb blast killed at least 30 people and injured dozens more in Afghanistan's eastern Logar province on Friday evening, with highschool students among the casualties, officials said.
The car packed with explosives detonated in Logar's capital of Pul-e Alam near the house of the former head of the provincial council, Didar Lawang, the spokesman for Logar's governor, said.
The house also operated as a guesthouse and the blast had struck just as guests were breaking their fast during the holy Islamic month of Ramadan, according to the head of Logar's provincial council, Hasibullah Stanekzai.
He said among the casualties were highschool students who had been staying at the house, having travelled to the capital to sit their university entrance exam, as well as pro-government militia members who were staying there while waiting for air transport to another distinct.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast. The insurgent Taliban did not immediately respond to request for comment.
Violence in Afghanistan has escalated in recent weeks after U.S. President Joe Biden announced the U.S. would withdraw troops by September 11 to end two decades of foreign military presence.
