At least 20 people were killed and 30 injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded market in the Afghanistan capital of Kabul on Thursday, The New York Times reported. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Nasrat Rahimi, a deputy spokesperson at the Interior Ministry, said that civilians and members of the security forces were among the casualties. The attack took place around 8.30 pm (9.30 pm IST) when the shopkeepers at the market were reportedly protesting against the police, TOLOnews reported.

This the third deadly attack claimed by the Islamic State group in the past few weeks. The militant group carried out a suicide attack at a cultural and religious centre in western Kabul on December 28, in which at least 41 people were killed and more than 80 people were injured. On December 25, it killed least six people in a suicide bomb attack near Afghanistan’s national intelligence agency.