On the first day of Eid-al-Fitr, at the beginning of a 3-day ceasefire between the Taliban and Afghan forces, explosions in Kandahar and Kunduz provinces killed nine people and injured 17.

Two landmines exploded in Kandahar province--one in Panjwai and the other in Maiwand district--killing seven civilians and wounding three others.

A landmine blast, remote-controlled, in the town of Sardawra in the northern province of Kunduz, killed two people, including a child, and injured 14 others, most of them children.

The blast in the city of Kunduz occurred just hours after the Eid prayers.

A Kunduz resident said: “The security forces arrived in the area 40 minutes after the accident occurred, while the Kunduz police headquarters is only 100 meters away from the incident area.”

“A Muslim does never oppress another Muslim in this way. We grow our children in poverty and miserable conditions, but they become victims very easily. If they (perpetrators) are Muslims, they should never commit such an atrocity against children,” said another resident of Kunduz province.

Officials in the Kunduz Provincial Hospital said the injured patients are in a critical state.

“Unfortunately, 16 people, who were injured and martyred in the explosion, were taken to the hospital,” said Fahim Hussainzada, a physician in Kundoz’s provincial hospital.

Meanwhile, in Kandahar province, two roadside mines exploded in Panjwai and Maiwand districts, killing seven civilians and wounding three others.

“At 9:30 a.m. today a landmine exploded on a taxi, carrying civilians, in Panjwai district. The mine was placed by the Taliban,” said Jamal Barakzai, spokesman for the Kandahar police chief.

In the past week, and before the government and the Taliban declared a 3-day ceasefire on Eid al-Fitr, more than a dozen provinces were witnessing heavy clashes between the fighters from the two sides.

Kabul, Kandahar, Helmand, Herat, and Balkh are the provinces that were least secure in the past week.