41 KILLED IN KABUL SHIA CENTRE ATTACK
TARGETED ATTACK Terrorist hits meet marking anniversary of Soviet invasion
An Afghan man runs as dust blows after a blast at a Shia cultural centre in Kabul on Thursday. At least 41 people were killed and 81 injured in multiple blasts, officials said.
KABUL: At least 41 people were killed and 84 others injured in a suicide attack on a Shia cultural centre in Kabul on Thursday, officials said, the latest in a string of violent assaults in the city.
The Khorasan wing of the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing. In a statement on its propaganda outlet Amaq, the group said it targeted the centre with three bombs followed by a suicide bombing, .
The Taliban was quick to deny involvement in the assault near the Afghan Voice Agency, a media outlet which earlier reports had suggested could have been the target.
A spokesman for the public health ministry said four women and two children were among the 41 dead. He added 84 people were wounded.
Deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP the attack targeted the Shia Tabayan cultural centre. “The suicide attacker detonated himself during a gathering at Tabayan cultural centre causing a lot of casualties,” Rahimi said.
The main explosion was followed by two smaller bomb blasts that did not cause casualties, he said, adding that the gathering was being held to mark the 38th anniversary of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.
There were chaotic scenes at the Istiqlal hospital where ambulances brought victims. Many of them were suffering severe burns to their faces and bodies, as well as shrapnel wounds.
Anguished relatives searched for their loved ones inside the medical facility, slapping their heads in fury as they cried and cursed the government for seemingly being unable to end the regular carnage on their streets.
Some were so distraught they crawled on the ground pulling their hair. An AFP reporter saw badly burned bodies lying on the floor in a room inside the hospital and wooden coffins being delivered so families could take away their dead loved ones.
Kabul has become one of the deadliest places in Afghanistan for civilians in recent months, as the Taliban steps up its attacks and the IS seeks to expand its presence in the country.
Thursday’s assault comes days after a suicide bomber killed six civilians in an attack near an Afghan intelligence agency compound in the city, also claimed by the IS.
The group has gained ground in Afghanistan since it first appeared in the region in 2015 and has scaled up its attacks in Kabul, including on security installations and the Shia minority.