Kabul: Twin blasts at Afghan shrines killed at least 58 people on Tuesday with one massive suicide blast in Kabul ripping through a crowd of worshippers including children.
The blast in Kabul and another in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif came a day after an international meeting in Germany, meant to further efforts to end the Afghan war, 10 years after US-led forces drove the Taliban from power.
At least 54 people were killed in the huge explosion at the entrance of a riverside shrine in Kabul, where hundreds of singing Shiite Muslims had gathered to mark Ashura.
“Fifty-four are dead and 150 others are injured,” health ministry spokesman Ghulam Noorughli said.
A young girl, dressed in a green shalwar kameez that was smeared in blood, stood shrieking as she was surrounded by the crumpled, piled-up bodies of children.
“I was there watching people mourning (for Ashura) when there was suddenly a huge explosion,” witness Ahmad Fawad said. “Some people around me fell down injured. I wasn't hurt, so I got up and started running. It was horrible.”
Men and women at the scene sobbed as they surveyed the carnage, and screamed slogans denouncing al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either blast. An official speaking on condition of anonymity said it was believed the bomber had arrived with a group of Shi’ite pilgrims from Logar province, south of Kabul.
Separately, four people were killed in Mazar-i-Sharif when another blast struck a shrine in the northern city as crowds gathered for Ashura. It was not immediately clear whether Shi’ites were the target.
Lal Mohammad Ahmadzai, a police spokesman for northern Afghanistan, said the blast was caused by a bicycle bomb, adding that four other people were also injured. AFP
Five more people were also wounded by a motorcycle bomb in Kandahar, the Taliban's heartland.
SourceAhmedabad Mirror
No comments:
Post a Comment