Suicide bomber kills 57 at Kabul centre
A SUICIDE bomber killed at least 57 people, including women and children, and wounded 112 outside a voter registration centre in Kabul yesterday.
The attack underscores growing concerns about security in the lead-up to Afghanistan’s legislative elections scheduled for Oct 20, and seen as a testrun for next year’s presidential poll.
Both the health and interior ministries confirmed the latest toll for the attack, which was claimed by the the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) via Amaq, its propaganda arm.
“They are civilians, including women and children,” said Najib Danish, interior ministry spokesman.
The centre, in a heavily Shia-populated neighbourhood in the west of the city, was also being used by people to register for national identification certificates, needed to sign up to vote.
Sheets of paper and passport-sized photos lay scattered amid shattered glass and pools of blood on the street near badly damaged cars – grim evidence of the force of the blast that drew international condemnation.
“This senseless violence shows the cowardice and inhumanity of the enemies of democracy and peace in Afghanistan,” John Bass, the US ambassador, wrote on Twitter. Nato also condemned the bombing.
A witness to the attack told Tolo TV: “Now we know the government cannot provide us security: we have to get armed and protect ourselves.”
Elsewhere, a roadside explosion in the northern province of Baghlan yesterday killed six people, including three women and two children.
Ashraf Ghani, Afghanistan’s president, condemned both attacks as “heinous”.
Afghanistan began registering voters on April 14 for the long-delayed legislative elections. Over the next two months, authorities hope to register up to 14million adults.