The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing in Badakhshan that targeted a unit of security forces that were on their way to destroy illegal poppy fields in the area.

A bomb explosion in Afghanistan’s volatile northeastern Badakhshan province on Wednesday killed at least three Taliban security personnel and wounded five others.

The Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani said the incident occurred when a motorcycle carrying an explosive device blew up near a military vehicle being used in opium poppy eradication operations.

Qani said the bomb which was “attached to a motorcycle, exploded in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan province,” while a convoy of security forces “was passing for the purpose of opium poppy eradication.”

He confirmed the casualties and said the attack was under investigation.

Later Wednesday, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing in Badakhshan, which has been in the grip of unprecedented violent public protests against Taliban authorities’ poppy eradication campaign. The claim was made via the group’s Telegram channel.

Protests have roiled several districts in the northern province of Badakhshan, where farmers object to Taliban security forces’ attempts to wipe out opium cultivation – the backbone of many household incomes in impoverished Afghanistan. The unrest erupted last Friday and left two protesters dead in clashes with Taliban security forces.

Wednesday’s deadly blast came a day after the Taliban’s army chief Fasihuddin Fitrat said in a video message that he had addressed complaints of protesting farmers and that the unrest was under control. He added that locals backed poppy eradication across Badakhshan.

Fitrat arrived in Faizabad from the capital Kabul two days ago as the head of a high-powered delegation to negotiate with the leaders of the demonstrators.

Ahead of his visit to the province, the Taliban army chief had threatened to militarily “quell the rebellion” if the protests continued. He reiterated his government’s resolve to eradicate poppy cultivation in Afghanistan and vowed to achieve this goal, come what may.

The Taliban said they were considering providing financial compensation to the families of the two people killed during the protests.

The United Nations estimates the ban on poppy cultivation rendered some 450,000 people jobless in poverty-stricken Afghanistan and precipitated a $1.3 billion loss in farmers' incomes.

The Taliban have said they are seeking to restore order and security to the war-torn country after taking over in 2021 as foreign forces withdrew.

Nevertheless, attacks have continued and the local branch of the militant Islamic State group, as well as resistance groups, have claimed responsibility for attacks on Taliban security forces.