At least 15 civilians were killed and 20 injured on Friday after a motorbike loaded with explosives blew up at a religious ceremony in the Gilan district of the Ghazni province in eastern Afghanistan on Friday.
Over 20 people were also wounded in the blast, Pajhwok Afghan News reported.
"At least 15 civilians were killed and 20 more were wounded in an explosion at a gathering in Gelan district, Ghazni province, this afternoon," the Interior Ministry Affairs spokesman Tariq Arian said.
The spokesman said the explosives were loaded on a motorbike parked near a house in a village where the ceremony was being held.
"The explosives detonated at a gathering in Gilan district of Ghazni province," said provincial governor's spokesman Waheedullah Jumazada, as quoted by news agency AFP.
He said the wounded included children.
No group has so far claimed the blast. However, it is common knowledge in Afghanistan that the Taliban and government forces have been regularly clashing in Ghazni.
Thirty security personnel were killed last month when a suicide car bomber struck an Afghan army base near Ghazni city, the provincial capital.
The latest violence comes as the Taliban and Afghan government engage in peace talks to end the country's grinding war.
(With inputs from agencies)
