Afghanistan Kabul suicide bomb: >40 killed dozens hurt

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Afghanistan suicide bomb attack: Dozens killed in Kabul

At least 40 people have been killed and 30 wounded in a suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

A Shia cultural organisation was the target but the Afghan Voice news agency was also hit. So-called Islamic State said it was behind the attack.

The interior ministry told the BBC an explosion at the Shia centre was followed by at least two more blasts.

IS has been behind a number of attacks on Shia targets across the country in recent months.
What do we know about the attack?

The main blast went off inside the Tabayan cultural centre, but offices of Afghan Voice are also at the location of the attack.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-42500769

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UPDATE:

At least 40 people have been killed and more than 80 wounded in a suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

A Shia cultural organisation was the target but the Afghan Voice news agency was also hit. So-called Islamic State said it was behind the attack.

The interior ministry told the BBC an explosion at the Shia centre was followed by at least two more blasts.

IS has been behind a number of attacks on Shia targets across the country in recent months.

What do we know about the attack?

The main blast went off inside the Tabayan cultural centre, but offices of Afghan Voice are also at the location of the attack.

Students were among those who had gathered at the Shia centre for a discussion forum.

The interior ministry said the event was to mark the 38th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan.

The initial explosion was followed by at least two others, although the ministry said these did not cause any fatalities.

The health ministry's latest figures say 41 people died and 84 were hurt, with women and children among the casualties.

Student Mohammad Hasan Rezayee told Tolo News: "We were inside the hall in the second row when an explosion from behind took place. After the blast there was fire and smoke inside the building and everyone was pleading for help."

Sayed Abbas Hussaini, a journalist at Afghan Voice, told Reuters that one reporter at the agency had been killed and two wounded.

Distraught relatives gathered at local hospitals, which are treating the dozens of wounded people.

Who carried it out?

The Islamic State group said on its propaganda outlet Amaq that it had targeted the Shia centre with a suicide bomber and other bombs.

The Taliban had earlier issued a statement saying they were not involved.

The Taliban are not known to specifically target Shias, although both militant groups have carried out frequent attacks across the country.

Shia fears

Analysis: Zia Shahreyar, BBC Persian, Kabul

In recent months IS has attacked many Shia targets in the west of Kabul, where the majority of the city's Shia population live.

The Tabayan centre also has offices in the Iranian cities of Tehran and Mashhad and is believed to have close ties with religious and cultural centres in Iran.

There are growing fears that IS is trying to spark a Sunni-Shia sectarian war in Afghanistan and the Shia community is increasingly dissatisfied with President Ashraf Ghani's government for failing to protect them.

US-led foreign forces meanwhile continue to engage IS in eastern Afghanistan and President Trump, in his new Afghan strategy, has pledged to root out IS in the country, as it has been in Iraq and Syria.

How is IS involved in Afghanistan?

IS announced the establishment of its "Khorasan" branch - an old name for Afghanistan and surrounding areas - in January 2015.

It initially gained ground in the east and north, although it has lost territory there and was largely eliminated from southern and western Afghanistan by the Taliban and operations conducted by Afghan and US/Nato forces.

IS has since resorted mainly to guerrilla tactics and is estimated to have a force of between 1,000 and 5,000 fighters.

IS considers Shia apostates and aims to turn the conflict in Afghanistan into a sectarian war between Sunnis and Shias.

In October, at least 39 people were killed in an attack on a mosque belonging to the Shia minority.

In April, the US said it had dropped the "Mother of All Bombs" on IS in eastern Afghanistan, but the group continues its attacks.

What has the reaction been?

President Ashraf Ghani's spokesman issued a statement describing the latest attack as an "unpardonable" crime against humanity.

Amnesty International's South Asia director, Biraj Patnaik, said: "This gruesome attack underscores the dangers faced by Afghan civilians. In one of the deadliest years on record, journalists and other civilians continue to be ruthlessly targeted by armed groups."

Nato's Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan called the attack "heinous".

Are the media under specific attack?

It has been a difficult year. Afghanistan remains one of the world's most dangerous countries for journalists and media workers.

In November, IS said it was behind a gun attack on the Shamshad TV station that killed one staff member.

In May, two media workers, including a BBC driver, were killed in a massive bomb attack in Kabul.

The first six months of 2017 saw a surge in violence against journalists, with local monitor the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee recording 73 cases, an increase of 35% in comparison to the same period in 2016.

Last year seven members of staff from the private Tolo television station were killed in a Taliban suicide bombing in Kabul.

[Anthea]

Islamic State claims blasts at Afghan Shi'ite center
By Abdul Aziz Ibrahimi, Akram Walizada

KABUL (Reuters) - Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Shi‘ite cultural center and news agency on Thursday in the Afghan capital that killed dozens of people attending a conference.

Ismail Kawosi, a spokesman for the ministry of public health, said 41 people had been killed and 48 wounded in the latest in a series of attacks on media organizations in Kabul.

The attack, which involved at least three explosions, occurred during a morning panel discussion on the anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Sunni-majority Afghanistan at the Tabian Social and Cultural Centre, with many of those attending students, witnesses said.

It was also the latest in a series of attacks on Shi‘ite targets by Islamic State, which claimed responsibility in an online statement.

The floors of the center, at the basement level, were covered in blood as wailing survivors and relatives picked through the debris, while windows of the news agency, on the second floor, were all shattered.

People running outside into the compound following an initial blast inside were caught by two further explosions which caused heavy casualties, witnesses said.

Photographs sent by witnesses showed serious damage at the building, in a heavily Shi‘ite area in the west of the capital, and a number of dead and wounded on the ground.

Deputy Health Minister Feda Mohammad Paikan said 35 bodies had been brought into the nearby Istiqlal hospital. Television pictures showed many of the injured suffered serious burns.

President Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman issued a statement calling the attack an “unpardonable” crime against humanity and pledging to destroy terrorist groups.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid issued a statement on Twitter denying involvement.

The bloodshed follows an attack on a private television station in Kabul last month, which was also claimed by Islamic State.

Backed by the heaviest U.S. air strikes since the height of the international combat mission in Afghanistan, Afghan forces have forced the Taliban back in many areas and prevented any major urban center from falling into the hands of insurgents.

But high-profile attacks in the big cities have continued as militants have looked for other ways to make an impact and undermine confidence in security. Islamic State, which is opposed to both the Taliban and the Western-backed government, has claimed a growing share of such attacks.

“This gruesome attack underscores the dangers faced by Afghan civilians,” rights group Amnesty International said in a statement from its South Asia Director, Biraj Patnaik. “In one of the deadliest years on record, journalists and other civilians continue to be ruthlessly targeted by armed groups.”

According to a report this month by media freedom group Reporters without Borders, Afghanistan is among the world’s most dangerous countries for media workers with two journalists and five media assistants killed doing their jobs in 2017, before Thursday’s attack.

According to Sayed Abbas Hussaini, a journalist at Afghan Voice, one reporter at the agency was killed in Thursday’s attack and two were wounded.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-afgh ... SKBN1EM0F5