International: An explosion in a packed Kabul market on Wednesday injured 11 people, including children, a nongovernmental organisation said. The source of the blast was not immediately clear and nobody from the Taliban was available for comment.

The blast struck a second-hand clothes market in the Pamir Cinema district, said the humanitarian group Emergency NGO, which runs a surgical centre in the Afghan capital. Emergency's deputy country director in Afghanistan, Stefano Gennaro Smirnov, said a 3-year-old girl and a 4-year-old boy were among the injured. A man is in critical condition. “The explosion took place at a second-hand clothes market when it opened and people crowded to get in,” said Smirnov.

“This is the Pamir Cinema neighbourhood, one of the most densely populated in Kabul. Many of those affected by this attack will be living in conditions of severe poverty.” While extremists in Afghanistan have increased their assaults since the Taliban takeover in 2021, their targets are normally the Taliban and members of the country's Shiite minority.

Quetta’s Achakzai Colony hit by rocket attack

In a separate incident on Wednesday, rockets hit the wall of Achakzai residential colony on Quetta’s Khojak Road, while two men were injured in a grenade attack in Khuzdar, Dawn reported. According to officials, three rockets were fired at the headquarters of Frontier Corps, North, at Quetta’s Hali Road from an unknown location. However, they landed and exploded on Khojak Road, close to the FC headquarters.

“Three rockets exploded in the area, no casualty was reported in the attack,” a senior police officer told Dawn, adding that none of the rackets hit the FC headquarters. One of the rockets hit the wall of Achakzai colony and smashed the window panes of many houses. Security forces cordoned off the entire area and launched a search operation, following the rocket attack.