KABUL: The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a car bombing that killed a local police chief in Afghanistan.
The IS regional affiliate known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province has increased its attacks since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021.
Abdulhaq Abu Omar, the police chief of the country's northeastern Badakhshan province, died on Monday morning when a car bomb exploded near his headquarters.
The Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul Nafi Takor, said two others were killed in the blast and two people were wounded.
Four suspects were arrested in connection with the incident, he said.
In a brief statement late on Monday, IS said it parked an explosive-laden car on the road used by the police chief on his way to work and detonated it when he was close by.
Earlier this month, the militant group claimed responsibility for a coordinated attack on a Chinese-owned hotel in the Afghan capital, Kabul, which left three assailants dead and at least two guests injured as they tried to escape by jumping out of a window.
The assault on the Kabul Longan Hotel, in the central Shar-e-Naw district, prompted the Chinese government to urge its citizens to leave Afghanistan.
The advisory appeared to be a setback for Afghanistan's Taliban rulers who seek foreign investments in hopes of halting the country's downward economic spiral since their takeover.