Afghanistan: 48 killed, 112 injured in Kabul suicide bombing
The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
Forty-eight people were killed and 112 were injured in a suicide bombing on Sunday at a voter registration centre in Kabul, Reuters reported. The blast occurred in Dasht-e-Barchi locality in western part of the capital of Afghanistan.
Dawood Amin, city police chief, told AFP it was a suicide attack. “It happened at the entrance gate of the centre,” he said. The Islamic State group claimed the attack through its Amaq news agency, BBC reported.
Interior Ministry Spokesperson Najib Danish the victims had gathered at the centre to collect their voter identity cards when the bomber arrived on foot and detonated the explosives, TOLO news reported.
Voter registration centres have been set up across Afghanistan ahead of the long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections in October.
#Kabul - Interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish confirms the revised casualty toll and says most of the wounded are in a stable condition. He said people had gathered at the center to collect their IDs (Tazkiras) when the suicide bomber detonated his explosives #Afghanistan
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) April 22, 2018
Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah condemned the terrorist attack. “Our resolve for fair and transparent election will continue and terrorists won’t win against the will of the Afghan people,” Abdullah said.
The secretary general of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Jens Stoltenberg, posted a message of solidarity. “NATO stands with Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism and for democracy,” he tweeted.
I strongly condemn the attack on a voter registration centre in Kabul. #NATO stands with #Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism and for democracy.
— Jens Stoltenberg (@jensstoltenberg) April 22, 2018