Blast targets clerics calling for peace

Seven die in bombing as leaders meet

KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber targeted a gathering of Afghanistan’s top clerics on Monday, killing at least seven people and wounding 20 shortly after the religious leaders had issued a decree against such attacks and called for peace talks.

Ghafor Aziz, police chief of Kabul’s 5th District, said the bomber struck near the entrance of a compound where the religious body, known as the Afghan Ulema Council, was meeting. It was not clear how many of the clerics were among those killed or wounded.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish said one policeman was among those killed and two were among the wounded.

Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said the 20 wounded were taken to different hospitals and that the toll could rise.

Around 2,000 members of the council had gathered for the meeting, which was held beneath a large, traditional tent. Aziz said the bomber struck near the end of the meeting, as the participants were about to leave.

Shortly before the attack, the clerics had issued an Islamic ruling, or a fatwa, declaring that suicide attacks are “haram” — forbidden under Islamic law.

Less than an hour before the attack happened, Ghofranullah Murad, a member of the council, read out a written statement from the gathering.

“The ongoing war in Afghanistan is illegal and has no root in Sharia [Islamic] law,” the statement said. “It is illegal according to Islamic laws and it does nothing but shed the blood of Muslims.”

Hours after the meeting, the Taliban issued a statement saying that their jihad, or holy war, in Afghanistan is legitimate because it is being waged against U.S. invaders and their supporters. It called the Ulema meeting “an American process, which was planned, organized, financed and led by the invaders.” The Taliban nevertheless denied involvement in the attack.

U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and reiterated that “no cause can justify such violence,” U.N. spokesman Stephane Dujarric said. “Targeting civilians in this way is a clear violation of international law,” he added.