Mazar

Since Taliban fighters seized control of Afghanistan last year after ousting the US-backed government, the number of bombings has fallen but the jihadist and Sunni ISIL has continued with attacks -- often against Shiite targets.

Earlier this week, at least six people were killed in twin blasts that hit a boys' school in a Shiite neighbourhood of Kabul.

Taliban fighters on Aug. 14 captured the key northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and closed in on Kabul, as U.S. President Joe Biden sent more troops to evacuate American personnel and their allies.

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Afghanistan opened the latest in a series of air cargo trade corridors on Jan. 9 with the inauguration of a route linking the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif with Istanbul and destinations in Europe.

The International Committee of the Red Cross will "drastically" cut back its operations in Afghanistan following attacks that have killed seven of its staff this year, the aid group said on Monday, quoted by Reuters. 

Turkey has condemned an attack on a military base in northern Afghanistan that claimed the lives of dozens of soldiers and injured many others. 

As many as 140 Afghan soldiers were killed on April 21 by Taliban attackers apparently disguised in military uniforms in what would be the deadliest attack ever on an Afghan military base, Afghan officials said.

A Taliban suicide car bomb targeted a NATO convoy in eastern Afghanistan April 10, killing at least three civilians as security forces brace for the start of the Taliban's traditional spring offensive.