A huge Sunni explosion in Kabul has been killed and at least 40 dead

KABUL – An explosion that destroyed at least 40 people on Tuesday and injured more than 60 in the Afghan capital has destroyed an important religious function in the Afghan capital, officials said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber and the target was a gathering of Sunni Muslims in a large hotel to commemorate the birth anniversary of the Prophet Mohammed.

No group immediately claimed assault in a large room usually used for wedding ceremonies. Members of the Islamic State have repeatedly targeted mosques and places of worship of Afghan Shiite Muslims in recent years. The Islamic State, a radical Sunni group, regards Shiites as heretics.

Tuesday's attack was the first of its kind against a Sunni religious rally in Afghanistan.

Hundreds of people were attending the ceremony and there was concern that the victims would increase.

Ambulance sirens were heard in several parts of the capital after the attack. Images on social media showed part of the hotel room badly damaged.

Earlier this month, a deadly explosion targeted a demonstration of hundreds of minority Shi'ites in the capital. Afghan officials said that several people were killed in the blast that occurred on November 12 near a high school and near a rally of people protesting Taliban attacks. against Shiite areas in Jaghuri and Malistan districts of Ghazni province (east).

Although the bombers of Tuesday were not clearly identified, radical Sunnis consider the Prophet's birthday to be venerated as sacrilege. Although this anniversary is widely celebrated in the Islamic world, it is a celebration that extreme fundamentalists are trying to suppress.

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