Afghanistan: more than 30 dead in a helicopter crash and suicide bombing

An Afghan official said that an army helicopter carrying senior officials crashed on Wednesday morning in Farah province (west), causing 25 casualties on board.

Naser Mehdi, a spokesman for the provincial governor, said the helicopter crashed around 9:10, shortly after taking off from the Anar Dara mountainous district and heading to the province. neighbor of Herat.

Among the passengers were the deputy commander of the West Zone Corps of Afghanistan and the head of Farah Provincial Council.

Mehdi said that the convicted helicopter had crashed in bad weather, but the Reuters news agency reported that the Taliban claimed to have fired the plane out of the sky.

According to Reuters, the convicted helicopter was one of two army helicopters that were heading to Herat.

Meanwhile, an Afghan Ministry of the Interior official said a suicide bomber had struck Wednesday morning outside the country's largest prison, east of the capital, Kabul, killing seven people, including employees and members of the security forces.

Najib Danish said the attacker targeted a bus carrying prison staff. The vast prison of Pul-e-Charkhi is home to hundreds of detainees, including dozens of Taliban.

According to Abadullah Karimi, a prison official, the attack reportedly took place near the prison gate, where several visitors were waiting to pass a rigorous security check before entering.

Nobody took the immediate responsibility for the attack.