IS bomber kills 63 at Kabul wedding

Kabul, August 18

Celebrations turned into horror and carnage when an Islamic State (IS) suicide bomber targeted a packed wedding hall, killing at least 63 people and injuring 182 in the deadliest attack to rock Kabul in months, officials said on  Sunday. The massive blast, which took place late Saturday in west Kabul, came as Washington and the Taliban finalise a deal to reduce the US military presence in Afghanistan and hopefully build a roadmap to a ceasefire.

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The groom recalled smilingly greeting guests in the afternoon, before seeing their bodies being carried out hours later. The attack “changed my happiness to sorrow”, said the young man, who gave his name as Mirwais, reported local TV station Tolo News. “My family is in shock. My bride keeps fainting. I lost my brother, friends and relatives. I will never see happiness in my life again,” he said.

Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said among the wounded were women and children. 

President Ashraf Ghani called it barbaric, while Afghanistan’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah described it as a crime against humanity. US ambassador to Afghanistan John Bass called it an act of extreme depravity.

Images from inside the hall showed blood-stained bodies on the ground along with pieces of flesh and torn clothes, hats, sandals and bottles of mineral water. The wedding was largely a gathering of Shia Muslims, who frequently are targeted in Sunni-majority Afghanistan, particularly by IS.

A guest said around 1,200 people had been invited.

The issue also goes to the heart of a prospective deal between the US and the Taliban that would see Washington begin to withdraw its approximately 14,000 soldiers from Afghanistan. The deal relies on Taliban guarantees they will stop jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda and IS from using Afghanistan as a safe haven. Saturday’s attack suggests any such promise would be tough to keep. The “Taliban cannot absolve themselves of blame, for they provide platform for terrorists,” Ghani said.

Meanwhile, in the northern province of Balkh, 11 members of a family were killed when their car hit a roadside bomb, officials said. The provincial governor blamed the Taliban. — AFP

Peace with whom? question Afghans 

Kabul: After the suicide blast, outraged Afghans questioned the point of negotiations with the Taliban aimed at getting US troops to leave and ending the war. “Peace with whom? With those who bomb our weddings, schools, universities, offices and houses?” Twitter user Rada Akba wrote. The Taliban denied responsibility for the blast. Journalist Sana Safi said she doubted the Taliban denial.  “Who else is capable of carrying out such brutality?” she asked. Tabish Forugh, an Afghan journalist, wrote, “Taliban is responsible in the eyes of Afghans. They have turned a country of 30 million people into a slaughterhouse.” Reuters