Guard killed, 5 journalists and 3 children injured in Afghanistan bombing

A security guard was killed and five Afghan journalists and three children were wounded Saturday when a bomb exploded in Mazar-i-Sharif in northern Afghanistan during a ceremony dedicated to journalists, police and a participant said.

A local journalist, Atef Arian, who was shot in the ear, said that after a speech by a senior Taliban official, children sang the national anthem "when I heard a loud bang".

Balkh police spokesman Mohammad Asif Waziri confirmed that a guard watching the building where the ceremony was being held in a basement was killed, and five journalists and three children were wounded.

"When the explosion happened, chaos reigned, and everyone tried to escape for fear of the building collapsing," Atef Arian said, adding that some of his colleagues were "seriously injured".