People carry a mourning man
at a hospital after a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan December 28,
2017. REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail
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.
Victims of the fatal attack
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.
-Reuters