A suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital on Thursday near a gathering of supporters of an influential regional leader killed at least nine people and wounded many, the interior ministry said. It was not clear if the politician, Atta Mohammad Noor, governor of the northern province of Balkh and a leader of the mainly ethnic Tajik Jamiat-i-Islami party, was at the meeting at the time of the attack. Islamic State claimed responsibility, according to Amaq, its official news agency. The Taliban denied involvement.

An Afghan journalist is treated at a hospital after the attack. Pic/afp