Toll rises to 63 in Islamic State’s wedding attack
KABUL — The suicide bomber stood in the middle of the dancing, clapping crowd as hundreds of Afghan children and adults celebrated a wedding in a joyous release from Kabul’s strain of war. Then, in a flash, he detonated his explosivesfilled vest, killing dozens — and Afghanistan grieved again.
The local Islamic State affiliate claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in the capital this year, with 63 killed and 182 wounded late Saturday, while outraged Afghans questioned just how safe they will be under an approaching deal between the United States and the Taliban to end America’s longest war.
Stunned families buried the dead Sunday, some digging with their bare hands. One wounded survivor, Mohammad Aslim, still wore his bloodied clothes the day after the blast. He and his friends had already buried 16 bodies, among them several close relatives, including a 7yearold boy.
The emergence of the Islamic State affiliate in recent years might be the greatest threat to Afghan civilians as the U.S. and Taliban seek an agreement to end nearly 18 years of fighting. While the U.S. wants Taliban assurances that Afghanistan will no longer be used as a base for global terror attacks, there appear to be no guarantees of protection for Afghan civilians.
The Taliban, which the U.S. hopes will help curb the Islamic State affiliate’s rise, condemned Saturday’s attack as “forbidden and unjustifiable.”
The blast took place in a western Kabul neighborhood that is home to many in the country’s minority Shiite Hazara community. Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim militant group, declared war on Afghanistan’s Shiites nearly two years ago and has claimed responsibility for many attacks targeting them in the past.
The wedding, at which more than 1,200 people had been invited, was in fact a mixed crowd of Shiites and Sunnis, said the event hall’s owner, Hussain Ali.