Innocents die in suicide bombing

VICTIMS: MANY WOMEN AND CHILDREN PERISHED

Islamic State group claims responsibility via propaganda arm Amaq.

Kabul

An Islamic State suicide bomber killed at least 31 people, including women and children, and wounded dozens outside a voter registration centre in the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday in the latest attack on election preparations.

The assaults underscore growing concerns about security in the lead-up to legislative elections scheduled for October 20, which are seen as a test-run for next year’s presidential poll.

“It happened at the entrance gate of the centre. It was a suicide attack,” said Dawood Amin, city police chief.

Both the health and interior ministries confirmed the latest toll for the attack, which was claimed by the Islamic State group via its propaganda arm Amaq.

“The final death toll from today’s terrorist attack in Kabul reached 31 martyred and 54 wounded. All the victims were civilians and women and children are among them,” Najib Danish, interior ministry spokesperson, posted on Facebook.

The centre in the heavily Shiite-populated neighbourhood in the west of the city was also being used by people to register for national identification certificates, which they need to sign up to vote.

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, killing at least 33 people.

Footage on Ariana TV showed pools of blood and shattered glass on the street.

A wounded man in a hospital bed wept as he told Ariana TV: “I don’t know where my daughters are. God damn the attackers!”

A witness to the attack named Akbar told Tolo TV: “Now we know the government cannot provide us security: we have to get armed and protect ourselves.”

Photos posted on social media purportedly of the scene showed several bodies on the ground and a badly damaged two-storey building. – AFP