Islamic State suicide bomber kills 57
KABUL, Afghanistan—An Islamic State suicide bomber carried out an attack at a voter registration center in the capital Kabul on Sunday, killing 57 people and wounding more than 100 others, said officials from the Afghan interior and public health ministries.
Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Majro said that among 57 who were killed in the attack, 22 were women and eight are children. Majro added that 119 people were wounded in Sunday's attack, among them 17 children and 52 women. "The tolls could still rise," he added.
Gen. Daud Amin, the Kabul police chief, said the suicide bomber targeted civilians who were registering for national identification cards.
The large explosion echoed across the city, shattering windows miles away from the attack site and damaging several nearby vehicles. Police blocked all roads to the blast site, with only ambulances allowed in. Local TV stations broadcast live footage of hundreds of distraught locals gathered at nearby hospitals seeking word about loved ones.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement carried by its Aamaq news agency, saying it had targeted Shiite "apostates."
The attack comes almost a month after another deadly attack by IS in which a suicide bomber carried out an attack near a Shiite shrine in Kabul that targeted attendees celebrating the Persian new year. That attack killed 31 people and wounded 65 others.
In a statement issued by the president's office condemned Sunday's attack and quoted President Ashraf Ghani as saying such "terrorist attacks" won't prevent people from participating in upcoming parliamentary elections.
Afghanistan will hold parliamentary elections in October and voter registration started a week ago.
Last week, three police officers guarding voter registration centers in two Afghan provinces were killed by militants, according to authorities.
Afghan security forces have struggled to prevent attacks by the local Islamic State affiliate as well as the more firmly established Taliban since the U.S. and NATO concluded their combat mission at the end of 2014. Both groups regularly carry out attacks, with the Taliban usually targeting the government and security forces and IS targeting the country's Shiite minority.