According to Jawzjan provincial officials, the bomb blast, which took place in the Darzab district of the province, also left 80 people wounded.

No group or individual has claimed responsibility for the attack, which came amid a surge in Taliban assaults in Afghanistan.

Elsewhere in the southern province of Helmand, Afghan officials say the Taliban militants attacked a police headquarters, killing the local police chief, Ahmad Shah Khan.

Afzel Khan, a policeman who survived the Helmand attack, said an explosive-laden car bomber struck the police compound in Naway District, making way for gunmen to enter in the compound.

Provincial spokesman Omar Zwak said another Taliban attack is underway in Helmand’s Nad Ali district.

In the early hours of Monday, the Taliban militant group also launched a major offensive on the northeastern city of Kunduz a year after briefly taking control of the area.

Reports say heavy fighting is underway between army forces in and around the city.

US-led forces overpowered the Taliban government in Afghanistan in 2001 under the pretext of the so-called global war on terror.

The militant group lost its grip over Afghanistan in the US-led military invasion, but security has not been delivered to the country despite the presence of foreign boots on Afghan soil.

SA - 12