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

The number of violent public attacks has fallen since the Taliban returned to power last August, but the Sunni Islamic State group has continued to target Shiites, who they view as heretics.

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 Shia passengers,” he said, adding 13 people were wounded in the blasts.

The blasts came just days after a deadly bomb attack at a Shia community mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif killed at least 12 worshippers and wounded scores more.

The jihadist IS claimed the mosque attack in Mazar-i-Sharif, but no group has so far taken responsibility for the bombing in Kunduz.