A huge car bomb blast killed at least 30 people and injured dozens more in Afghanistan’s eastern Logar province on Friday evening, with high-school students among the casualties, officials said.

The car, which was packed with explosives, was detonated in Logar’s capital of Pul-e Alam near the house of the former head of the provincial council, Didar Lawang, the spokesman for Logar’s governor, said.

The house also operated as a guesthouse and the blast had struck just as guests were breaking their fast during Ramazan, according to the head of Logar’s provincial council, Hasibullah Stanekzai. He said among the casualties were high-school students who had been staying at the house, having travelled to the capital to take part in their university entrance exams, as well as pro-government militia members who were staying there while waiting for air transport to another district.

It was not immediately clear who was behind the blast.

Violence in Afghanistan has escalated in recent weeks after US President Joe Biden announced that the US would withdraw troops by September 11 to end two decades of foreign military presence.

That decision angered the Taliban who had signed a deal with previous US President Donald Trump that specified troops would be gone from the country by May 1 subject to certain security guarantees.

Interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said the death toll could rise.

A provincial health official said just over 60 injured people had been taken to hospital and many students were among the victims. The EU’s delegation to Afghanistan said: “In the holy month of Ramazan, horrible news on a car bomb in Pul-e-Alam, Logar province, killing and injuring innocent civilians, including students.”