Suicide bombing kills 18 in Kabul

Kabul, October 24

A suicide bombing at an education centre in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul killed at least 18 people and wounded several others on Saturday, officials said.

A Ministry of Interior spokesman, Tariq Arian, cited security guards as identifying a bomber who detonated explosives in the street outside the Kawsar-e-Danish educational centre.

The attack left 57 injured, the interior ministry said. The Islamic State released a statement on Telegram, claiming the responsibility without providing evidence.

A Taliban spokesman on Twitter denied responsibility for the attack, which comes at a sensitive time as teams representing the insurgents and the government meet in Qatar to seek a peace deal.

The attack took place in an area of west Kabul that is home to many from the country’s Shia community, a religious minority in Afghanistan targeted by groups such as IS in the past.

Dozens of students died in an attack on another Kabul education centre in 2018. In May, gunmen attacked a maternity ward, killing 24, including mothers and babies. — Reuters