Violence ripped through Afghanistan’s capital on Tuesday in multiple ways — from a pressure-cooker bomb to a shooting to a rocket tip that exploded while children were playing with it.
The latter incident was the deadliest, killing seven children between ages 10 and 14 and wounding two others, Kabul police Chief Abdul Rahman Rahimi said. They had been playing with the head of the rocket, which had been left behind a long time ago — wrapping it up in a cloth and throwing it — when it went off, according to the chief.
Elsewhere in Kabul, three people died when a pressure-cooker explosive detonated near a roundabout, Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said.
Seddiqi also said that Afghan political analyst Ahmad Saeed was rushed to a hospital after unknown gunmen shot him Tuesday afternoon in the volatile Asian nation’s capital.
It was not immediately clear who was behind the bombing or shooting.
Violence has plagued Afghanistan for years, pitting the government and its allies against the Taliban, the extremist group that led the country before the U.S.-led assault following the September 11, 2001, attacks.