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Jalalabad: A suicide bombing in a city in eastern Afghanistan where President Ashraf Ghani was traveling killed at least 19 people, including the only Sikh candidate in the upcoming parliamentary elections , officials said Sunday. According to the spokesman of the governor, Attaullah Khogyani, the government of the governor of the province, Najibullah Kamawal, said: "Of the 19 killed, 17 were Sikhs and Hindus," said government spokesman Attaullah Khogyani. AFP . Another twenty people were injured in the attack.
Avtar Singh, the only candidate Sikh candidate for the Oct. 20 elections in parliament and the district council, was among the dead, said an official at the Indian embbady. In a statement, the embbady condemned the attack "cowardly terrorist".
Afghan police officers inspect the site of an explosion in the city of Jalalabad, Afghanistan on Sunday. Reuters
The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group.
There were scenes of anxiety in the hospital where grieving parents were crying and hugging each other while waiting for news of their loved ones [19659002] for us, we finished, they mbadacred us, at least 10 of us, "said a man to AFP too upset to give his name.
Small communities of Sikhs and Hindus reside in what is otherwise a predominantly Muslim nation. Najib Danish, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, confirmed that a suicide bombing had been perpetrated, the latest in a series of recent deadly attacks in the restive province.
Ghani spokesman said the president was still in Nangarhar but was "far from danger".
Ghani arrived in Jalalabad earlier Sunday to open a hospital, as part of a two-day visit to the neighboring province of Pakistan.
The attack comes a day after Ghani ordered the Afghan security forces to resume offensive operations against the Taliban after the ceasefire expired 18 days of government.
The unilateral truce of the government cuts the three-day ceasefire. for Eid, but the activists refused to extend it.
The unprecedented cease-fire on Ramzan's holidays triggered spontaneous street celebrations involving Taliban fighters, security forces, a
But it was marked by two suicide bombings in Nangarhar, who have killed dozens and have been claimed by the Islamic State, which has a more modest but relatively powerful presence in Afghanistan
. The attack comes as US envoy Alice Wells travels to Kabul as part of efforts to intensify pressure on the Taliban to engage in peace talks.
The Taliban have hitherto ignored the offer of Ghani peace negotiations. Instead, they insisted on direct talks with the United States, which Washington has repeatedly denied.
Wells said that the Afghan government and the United States wanted to start talking without preconditions.
"At this moment, it is the Taliban leaders … who do not reside in Afghanistan, who are the obstacle to a negotiated political settlement," Wells said in embargoed remarks until Sunday.
Wells, to hold The talks in Pakistan on Monday said Islamabad should also do more to press the Taliban and bring them to the negotiating table.
"Pakistan has an important role to play … but we have not yet seen this sustained and decisive action on the part of Islamabad," she said.
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