Nine killed by bomb blasts on minibuses in Afghanistan

Two bomb blasts aboard separate minibuses killed at least nine people Thursday in Afghanistan's Mazar-i-Sharif, police said, a week after a deadly explosion rocked a Shiite mosque in the northern city.

Thursday's blasts occurred within minutes of each other in different districts of Mazar-i-Sharif as commuters were heading home to break their dawn-to-dusk Ramadan fast, Balkh provincial police spokesman Asif Waziri told AFP.

"The targets appear to be Shiite passengers," he said, adding 13 people were wounded in the blasts.