13 Afghan civilians die in stadium blast

KABUL, Afghanistan — A car bombing Friday outside a sports stadium in Afghanistan’s southern Helmand province killed 13 people and wounded 40 others, an official said.

Aminullah Abed, the chief of the province’s public health department, said the casualties were received at a hospital in the province’s capital, Lashkar Gah, with six of the wounded in critical condition and many others burnt beyond recognition.

The explosion occurred after Afghan new year celebrations were winding down and revelers were on their way home, he added.

Provincial chief of police Abdul Ghafar Safi said the blast was carried out by a suicide bomber and that the target was civilians. No high-ranking officials were present or harmed at the stadium, he added.

The office of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani issued a statement condemning the “brutal terrorist attack.”

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.