At least 14 killed in suicide bombing
At least 14 people were killed when a suicide attacker blew himself up outside a wedding hall in Kabul yesterday, in an apparent attempt to target a political gathering inside.
ISIL claimed responsibility for the bombing, the latest to hit the war-weary Afghan capital where insurgents have been stepping up assaults in a show of deadly force. The Taliban were quick to deny that they were behind the attack.
Supporters of Atta Mohammad Noor, the powerful governor of the northern province of Balkh and a critic of Afghan president Ashraf Ghani, had been holding an event in the hall at the time of the blast.
Mr Noor was not at the event, one of his aides said.
Mr Ghani condemned the attack as a “criminal act”.
The bomber tried to enter the building but was stopped at a security checkpoint where he detonated his device, said Kabul police spokesman Abdul Basir Mujahid.
“A number of our police personnel are among the casualties,” Mr Mujahid said. “Eight police and six civilians have been killed while a further 18 have been wounded.”
Dr Anwar Gargash, Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, said in Turkmenistan on Wednesday that the UAE was committed to the security and stability of Afghanistan.
“The UAE has extended assistance worth US$1.67 billion [Dh6.1bn] to help Afghanistan recover from long years of disasters and catastrophes. The
assistance covered 16 humanitarian developmental sectors including infrastructure, reconstruction and economic recovery,” he told the seventh Regional Economic Conference on Afghanistan.
Dr Gargash highlighted the UAE’s role in training Afghan mosque imams in the values and principles of moderate Islam, peace and co-existence.
Yesterday, Afghan interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said “the bomber detonated himself after he was identified by the police”.
“After lunch, as we were exiting, a huge explosion shook the hall, shattering glass and causing chaos and panic,” said Harun Mutaref. “I saw many bodies, including police and civilians, lying in blood.”
Mr Noor, a senior leader of the Tajik-dominated Jamiat-e Islami party, has been an outspoken critic of Mr Ghani and the National Unity Government. It is not the first time that top officials in the Jamiat-e Islami party have been targeted by attackers.
The foreign minister, Salahuddin Rabbani, who heads Jamiat, survived a suicide attack at a funeral in Kabul in June where chief executive Abdullah Abdullah also escaped unharmed.
Political infighting has been intensifying ahead of next year’s long-delayed district and parliamentary elections, which would pave the way for the 2019 presidential ballot.
Mr Noor has hinted that he may run for the country’s highest office.