![]() ![]() ![]() Wednesday's blast comes days after a Taliban suicide attacker blew up a bomb-laden car in Kabul, causing multiple casualties. Taliban and IS militants have increasingly targeted the war-weary city in recent months as US and Afghan forces ramp up air strikes and ground offensives against the groups. The attack also drew international condemnation, with US ambassador to Kabul John Bass describing it as "shameful". President Ashraf Ghani, whose government has been repeatedly lambasted for its inability to protect its citizens, condemned the latest attack in a statement as a "crime against humanity". In October 2016 IS gunmen killed 18 people gathered to mark Ashura, an important date for many Muslims, especially Shiites. IS, which regularly targets Shiites in an attempt to stir up sectarian violence in Sunni-majority Afghanistan, has attacked the same shrine once before. Outside the hospital morgue, a visibly distressed man knelt next to several bodies, cursing the Afghan government, before he was pulled away by a relative and a medical worker.Īnother body lay on a stretcher in the hospital compound, a pair of red, white and blue tennis shoes poking out from underneath a covering. One of the wounded told Tolo from his hospital bed that immediately before the blast he had heard drum beats as people danced to music in the street.īloodstains could be seen among scattered shoes and other belongings at the site of the attack. The bomber had been unable to reach it due to heavy security for Nawrooz, so he "detonated himself among teenagers returning from there", Kabul police chief Mohammad Daud Amin told Tolo News. The blast happened near the Karte Sakhi shrine where many Afghans gather every year to mark Nawrooz, which is the traditional Persian New Year holiday but is considered un-Islamic by Muslim fundamentalists. Witnesses told police the bomb had been hidden inside a drum carried by the attacker, Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid told AFP.īut Rahimi said an investigation indicated he had been wearing a suicide vest. The blast could be heard several kilometres away. The bomber, who was on foot, detonated his device in front of Kabul University and the hospital that was opposite, Rahimi said. A security source told AFP on condition of anonymity that the bombing left 37 dead and 70 wounded. Afghan officials often give conflicting tolls in the wake of attacks and they routinely understate the figures. ![]()
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