International

Death toll from suicide attack in Kabul rises to 60

Kabul suicide attack

April 24, 2018 | 10:34 AM
Afghan residents take photographs of a banner with the image of Wakil Hussain Allahdad (centre), one of the 60 victims of a bomb blast in Kabul.
The death toll from Sunday's suicide attack on a national ID distribution centre in Kabul has increased to 60, the Public Health Ministry said. Twenty women and nine children were among the dead and two bodies remained unidentified, spokesman Wahidullah Marjoh said on Tuesday. Another 129 people, including a large number of women and children, were injured in the attack, which was claimed by Islamic State. The centre targeted in the attack - in a Shia-dominated, western neighbourhood of Kabul - was set up to provide identification cards to voters ahead of parliamentary and provincial council elections slated for October.Such centres have been set up by the Afghan government in hopes of increasing turnout - those without ID cannot receive a voter registration card.The incident is the seventh biggest attack in Kabul since January and the fifth to be claimed by Islamic State. At least 247 people have died and 448 others have been injured in the attacks.
April 24, 2018 | 10:34 AM