Over a dozen killed in suicide attack on Afghan election rally
A suicide attack on a political rally in eastern Afghanistan killed at least 13 people on Tuesday, officials said, as the country braces for an escalation in violence ahead of this month’s parliamentary election.
The attack is the first suicide assault since campaigning officially began last Friday for the long-delayed ballot, preparations for which have already been marred by dozens of bloody attacks, AFP reported.
More than 40 people were wounded, some of them critically, when the terrorist blew himself up among supporters of candidate Abdul Nasir Mohmmand in Nangarhar Province, provincial governor spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said.
Mohmmand survived the attack, Khogyani confirmed, but he did not say if the candidate had been hurt.
Provincial health director Najibullah Kamawal put the death toll slightly higher at 14.
An AFP reporter saw numerous ambulances delivering bodies and wounded people to a hospital in the provincial capital of Jalalabad.
No group immediately claimed the attack, but the Daesh terrorist group has taken responsibility for most of the suicide bombings in recent months.
Violence has plagued the run-up to Afghanistan’s parliamentary vote, which is scheduled for October 20 – more than three years after it was supposed to be held.
Five candidates have been murdered in targeted killings, according to the Independent Election Commission, and hundreds of civilians have been killed or wounded in pollrelated violence.
The latest attack came amid predictions for Afghan battle deaths to top 20,000 this year – including civilians and combatants.
That would be the highest number since the start of the conflict in 2001 and potentially make Afghanistan deadlier than Syria.
More than 2,500 candidates will contest the vote, which is seen as a test run for next year’s presidential election.