Herat provincial police have detained three men in relation to yesterday's bomb attack on a police convoy in Lashkar Gah that killed one policeman and wounded seven more, officials said Thursday.
The three men are residents of Faryab, Baghdis and Kandahar provinces but have been living in a camp for displaced persons in Herat, the police Head of Security Gen. Abdul Hamid Hamidi told TOLOnews.
An improvised explosive device (IED) was strapped to a bicycle and detonated as a police vehicle was passing by in the Islam Qala area around 11:00am, killing one and wounding seven.
The three were detained in the place they were staying – a camp for displaced persons in Herat's Maslakh area – only a few hours after the attack, police said.
"These men confessed in the first investigation that they are responsible for leading yesterday's attack and many other attacks in this province," Hamidi said.
Security forces said the attack was carried out with a bomb placed in a parked bicycle and remotely detonated, but some witnesses claim it was a suicide attack whereby the bomber drove his bomb-rigged bicycle into the police convey.
Herat hospital spokesman said one of the wounded is in a critical condition.
"Seven wounded and one dead were brought to the hospital – the situation of one of the victims is concerning," Mohammad Rafiq Shirzai said Thursday.
There are five different areas of Herat city with camps for displaced persons. These people are mostly from the north and south of Afghanistan.
According to officials, most of the suicide attacks which happen in Herat are carried out by people living in these camps.