FAIZABAD, Afghanistan: Three policemen were killed and five were wounded on Wednesday when a sticky bomb was detonated next to a security convoy tasked with clearing illegal poppy crops in northeastern Afghanistan, the interior ministry said. The improvised explosive device (IED) was attached to a motorcycle which targeted a convoy of police vehicles in Faizabad, the capital of mountainous Badakhshan province, around 11 am (0630 GMT).

“The bomb exploded while the convoy of police forces was on its way to destroy poppy cultivation,” Taleban Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani posted on X, formerly Twitter.

The explosion comes days after Taleban security officials and residents clashed over the violent clearance of poppy crops in two Badakhshan districts, leaving two dead and sparking rare protests.

Afghanistan was the largest producer of opium before poppy cultivation was banned in a decree by the Taleban supreme leader in April 2022. Farmers have been encouraged to plant different crops, but none compete with the financial draw of the poppy, leading some to continue to discreetly cultivate small plots. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

An AFP journalist saw Taleban authorities searching homes and detaining dozens of people near the scene. Images posted on social media but not immediately verified by AFP showed a charred motorcycle and a police truck riddled with holes.

Eyewitness Aminullah, who did not want to give his full name, said he heard a huge explosion and saw that a convoy of Taleban authorities had been hit.

“Immediately the security forces cleared the area of people,” he told AFP. The number of bombings and suicide attacks in Afghanistan has fallen since the Taleban ended their insurgency after ousting the US-backed government and returning to power in August 2021. However, a number of armed groups, including the Islamic State group, remain a threat, with regular reports of explosions that go unconfirmed by authorities. – AFP