Investigators inspect the site of a suicide attack in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital of north Afghanistan's Balkh Province, Nov. 9, 2017. A prominent businessman was killed and two people were wounded when the attack ripped through a hotel in Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday. (Xinhua/Yaqoub Azorda)
MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan, Nov. 9 (Xinhua) -- A prominent businessman was killed and two people wounded after a suicide bomb attack ripped through a hotel in Mazar-i-Sharif city, capital of Afghanistan's northern province of Balkh on Thursday, local police said.
"Hajji Abdul Ghani was killed after a terrorist detonated his suicide vest roughly at around 7 a.m. local time at a hotel near the Blue Mosque in central neighborhood of the city," Sayyed Sarwar Housaini, police spokesman of 707 Pamir Police Zone based in the region, told Xinhua.
"The assailant was also killed on the spot. Ghani's son and one of his guests were injured in the explosion," Housaini said.
The blast also damaged several shops and nearby vehicles. Earlier, a local official told Xinhua that four people, including the attacker, were killed in the blast.
The Taliban outfit and Islamic State (IS) militant group often target civilians and religious clerics as well as local leaders for their support to the Afghan government and the U.S.-led forces stationed in the country.
More than 650 Afghans were killed and over 560 others wounded by the targeted attacks in 2016 across the country, according to official figures.
