Poll centre blast in Kabul kills 52, IS claims attack
MINORITIES HIT Area’s inhabitants include Hazaras, a mainly Shia community KABUL:
A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a voter registration centre in the Afghan capital Kabul on Sunday, killing at least 52 people and wounding more than 100, in the most serious attack yet on preparations for elections scheduled for October.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on a project of key importance to the credibility of President Ashraf Ghani’s government, which has been under international pressure to ensure long-delayed parliamentary polls take place this year.
Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said a bomber on foot approached the centre where officials were issuing identity cards as part of the registration process for around 10 million voters across Afghanistan. Registration began this month. President Ghani issued a statement condemning the attack and said it “cannot divert us from our aims or weaken this national democratic process”.
A spokesman for the ministry of public health said at least 52 people were confirmed dead and 112 wounded. He said the total could climb. The explosion destroyed cars and shattered windows in nearby buildings, leaving rubble strewn across the blood-stained street.
It was the deadliest blast in Kabul since about 100 people were killed in January by a bomb concealed in an ambulance and it came after repeated warnings that militants could try to disrupt the election process.
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 Shi’ite Hazara minority, which has been repeatedly hit by attacks claimed by IS.
“There were women, children. Everyone had come to get their identity cards,” said Bashir Ahmad who had been near the blast, which occurred despite heightened security after the January attack. According to UN figures, more than 750 people have been killed or maimed in suicide attacks and bombings by militant groups during the three months to March ahead of an expected start of the Taliban’s normal spring offensive.
Afghanistan’s international partners have insisted that the elections should be held this year before a presidential vote due in 2019, although there has been widespread scepticism that they will go ahead.
More than 7,000 voter registration centres have been set up across Afghanistan to handle about 10 million registrations.
Officials had pledged tight security to ensure the process proceeded safely.