63 die in IS Kabul wedding blast
Print Edition
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility yesterday for a suicide blast at a wedding reception in Afghanistan that killed 63 people, underling the dangers the country faces even if the Taliban agree a peace deal with the United States.
The Saturday night attack came as the Taliban and the US try to negotiate an agreement on the withdrawal of US forces in exchange for a Taliban commitment on security and peace talks with Afghanistan’s US-backed government.
Islamic State fighters, who first appeared in Afghanistan in 2014 and have since made inroads in the east and north, are not involved in the talks. They are battling the government and US-led international forces and the Taliban.
The group, in a statement on the messaging website Telegram, claimed responsibility for the attack at a west Kabul wedding hall, in a minority Shi’ite neighborhood, saying its bomber had been able to infiltrate the reception and detonate his explosives in the crowd of “infidels.”
IS has claimed some of the most bloody attacks in Afghan cities over the past couple of years, with some aimed at the Shi’ite.
The Taliban had earlier denied responsibility for the Kabul attack and condemned it.
More than 180 people were wounded with many women and children among the casualties, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said yesterday, as families thronged to Kabul’s crowded cemeteries.
“We want peace, not such brutal suicide attacks,” Ahmad Khan, who was burying a relative, said yesterday.
Pictures on social media from the scene of the blast showed bodies strewn amid overturned table and chairs at the wedding hall, with dark bloodstains on the carpet. The bride and groom survived.
“I won’t ever be able to forget this however much I try,” the groom, identified as Mirwais, told the TOLOnews channel. He said his cousin and some friends had been killed.
“I can’t go to the funerals. I feel very weak ... I know that this won’t be the last suffering for Afghans. The suffering will continue.”
The bride’s father told TOLOnews 14 members of his family were killed.
Wedding halls have become a big business in Kabul as the Afghan economy slowly picks up and families spend more on celebrations. Big, brightly lit halls now line some suburban streets of the city and bombers have targeted them before.
At least 40 people were killed in a wedding-hall blast in Kabul in last November.
There has been no let-up in fighting and bomb attacks in Afghanistan over recent months despite the talks between the US and the Taliban since late last year.
In the northern province of Balkh, 11 civilians were killed yesterday when a roadside bomb blew up their van.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, in comments before the IS claim, said the Taliban could not “absolve themselves of blame for they provide a platform for terrorists.”
The Taliban have been fighting to expel foreign forces and re-establish an Islamic state since they were ousted in 2001.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
