Six people have been killed after a roadside bomb went off near a bus with government employees during rush hour on Tuesday morning in northern Afghanistan.

Seven other people were injured in the blast in Mazar-e Sharif, the capital of Balkh province, a Taliban-appointed spokesman for the police said.

The bomb was placed inside a cart by the side of the road and detonated as a bus belonging to the Hiaratan gas and petrol department was taking employees to work.

No-one has claimed responsibility for the bombing, but the regional affiliate of the so-called Islamic State group (IS) – known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province and a rival of Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban – has increased its attacks since the Taliban takeover in 2021.

Images posted on social media from the scene show a damaged bus and another vehicle, along with several carts and fruit stalls lying scattered by the roadside following the explosion.

The bus was later towed away.