The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has claimed responsibility for a bomb blast that killed an Afghan journalist and a technician in a minibus carrying employees of a local television station.

At least seven people were wounded in in the capital, Kabul, in the evening rush-hour attack on May 30.

'Our colleagues Mir Wahed Shah, an economic reporter, and Shafiq Amiri, an employee in the technical department, were martyred in the incident,' said Mohammad Rafi Rafiq Sediqi, the chief executive of the private Khurshid TV.

The IS group, which battles government forces and Taliban militants, has claimed some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan in recent years. It did not give a reason for the May 30 blast.

Pictures shared on social media showed a white minibus, which was carrying 15 employees of Khurshid TV, with extensive damage to its front.

The United States, the European Union, and NATO condemned the attack.

Last year, two employees of Khurshid TV were killed and two wounded in a similar attack in Kabul.

The Taliban and IS have both attacked reporters in the past.

Last year, the Taliban warned the Afghan media to stop broadcasting what it called 'anti-Taliban statements.'

Afghanistan is one of the world's deadliest places for journalists. In January, the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee reported five journalists were killed in 2019.

The media-freedom group Reporters Without Borders said 15 Afghan journalists were killed in 2018, the deadliest year yet.

Based on reporting by Reuters, AFP, and AP

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