Blast at Afghan election center leaves dozens dead

KABUL — A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a voter registration center in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, killing at least 48 people and wounding more than 110, most of them waiting in line to receive identity cards, officials said.

Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on a project of key importance to the credibility of President Ashraf Ghani’s Westernbacked government, which has pledged to hold parliamentary elections this year.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said a bomber on foot approached the center where officials had been issuing identity cards as part of the registration process for voters for the election scheduled for October.

A spokesman for the ministry of public health said at least 31 people were confirmed dead and 54 wounded. The explosion destroyed cars and shattered windows in nearby buildings, leaving rubble strewed across the street.

It was the most serious attack in the capital since about 100 people were killed in January by a bomb concealed in an ambulance.

The last major attack in Kabul was on March 21, when an IS suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd celebrating the Persian New Year holiday and killed at least 33 people.

After weeks of relative calm, the blast took place in Dasht-e Barchi, an area of western Kabul inhabited by many members of the mainly Shiite Hazara minority, which has been repeatedly hit by attacks claimed by Islamic State.

“There were women, children. Everyone had come to get their identity cards,” said Bashir Ahmad, who had been nearby the blast, which occurred despite heightened security measures following the January attack.

Voter registration centers have been set up across Afghanistan ahead of long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections due to be held in October and there have been serious concerns that militants might attack them.

President Ghani has been under heavy pressure from his international partners to ensure the elections are held this year, ahead of a presidential election due in 2019 although there has been widespread skepticism will take place.

“They should be keeping the country safe, if they can’t, someone else should be in their place,” said Sajeda, who was wounded in the blast along with three other members of her family as they lined up for their cards.

Also on Sunday, a roadside bomb near a voter registration center in the northern city of Pul-i Khumri killed six members of a family and wounded three as they drove past the site, although there was no indication the attacks were linked. that they