63 dead in attacks on voter registration centres in Afghanistan

International Desk: Bombings at voter registration centres in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and in Baghlan province have killed at least 63 people and wounded more than a hundred others, health officials said.

At least 57 people were killed in Kabul when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives at the doorway of an ID distribution centre in the city on Sunday, officials said.

Six more people were killed later in the day in Baghlan's Pul-e-Khumri city, when their vehicle struck a roadside bomb near another voting centre. All six were from the same family.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS) group said it carried out the Kabul attack, but no group has claimed responsibility for the Baghlan blast yet.

The Kabul bombing occured in the Dasht-e-Barchi area, where many of the country's Shia Hazara minority reside.

Among the victims were many women and children, witnesses said.

"After I heard a bang, I rushed to the site of the blast and, when I arrived at the scene, we helped many wounded people by carrying them to hospital," Bashir Ahmad, a witness, said.

"Many of the victims were women and children who were here to get their identity cards and register for elections," Ahmad added.

Wahid Majro, spokesman for the public health ministry, said five small children and 21 women were killed in the attack. The toll could still rise, he told the news agency.

In a separate development on Sunday, a traffic incident reportedly involving a convoy of foreign forces killed a child near the US embassy in Kabul, prompting protests in the area. Witnesses reported heavy gunfire near the embassy.

Source: Agencies



risingbd/April 22, 2018/Mukul