Bomber targets peace clerics

KABUL: A motorcycle suicide bomber killed at least eight people near the entrance to a twoday peace gathering of Muslim clerics in the Afghan capital yesterday, security officials and a witness said, the latest attack in a growing cycle of violence.

The bomb exploded at the entrance to a giant tent, near residential buildings in the west of Kabul, after most of the clerics had left, a witness said. Women living nearby were crying as they gathered with their families.

‘‘People were wounded, people were shouting,’’ a witness told Reuters.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, which underlines deteriorating security ahead of parliamentary and district council elections set for October 20.

The Taliban, fighting to restore strict Islamic rule after their 2001 ousting at the hands of USled troops, denied involvement.

More than 2000 religious scholars from across the country began meeting on Sunday at the Loya Jirga (Grand Council) tent, denouncing years of conflict.

They issued a fatwa, or religious ruling, outlawing suicide bombings and demanding that Taliban militants restore peace to allow foreign troops to leave.

A series of bombings in Kabul has killed dozens of people in recent months and shown no sign of easing during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

Provincial cities have also been hit as the Taliban has stepped up operations since the beginning of its annual spring offensive in April. — Reuters