The death toll of the bombing of a wedding hall in Kabul – News

KABUL, Afghanistan – The record of bombings perpetrated against religious scholars celebrating the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad in the Afghan capital continued to increase during the 24 hours following the attack, while that the Taliban denied any responsibility.

At least 55 people have been killed and 94 injured, Health Ministry spokesman Waheed Majroh said Wednesday.

The attack took place at the Uranus Wedding Hall, a brightly lit complex about three kilometers from Kabul airport, where US troops are stationed.

Hundreds of religious scholars gathered in the hall to celebrate the birthday of the Muslim prophet. A suicide bomber entered and blew himself up during a Quran reading from start to finish, said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish.

A video of the attack circulated on social media, showing academics intently listening to the lyrics of the Muslim holy book before an orange flash appeared on the screen. A detonation and the sounds of people rushing from the scene follow.

An investigation into the incident is still ongoing, police spokespeople said.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack, which the Taliban denounced in a statement.

This was the first major attack in Kabul since the suicide attack by an Islamic state against a gym in September, killing 30 people.

The latest attack corresponds to the previous attack profile of ISIL's local affiliate, which began operating in the east of the country at the end of 2014 and organized several high-profile attacks, mainly in Kabul. and in his fiefs of Nangarhar province.

In recent years, trained and supplied Afghan forces, backed by US Special Operations troops, have fought both the rising Taliban uprising and the Islamic State branch, known as the province name of ISIS-Khorasan or ISIS-K.

Both groups seek to overthrow the US-backed Kabul government and impose a hard Islamic regime, but they are deeply divided on leadership, ideology and tactics and have clashed.

The Taliban claim to primarily target government officials, security forces and foreign troops, while ISIS-K has carried out numerous attacks on civilians, frequently targeting the country's Shiite minority.

In June, ISIS-K claimed a suicide bombing attack at a rally of senior clerics in the capital, the Council of Afghan Ulema, which issued a decree against suicide bombings and called for talks of peace.

The Taliban denounced the rally, but denied that it had carried out the attack, which left at least seven dead and 20 wounded.

The US military has not been able to determine the number of cells of an Islamic state operating in Kabul, said the Pentagon's Inspector General in a report released earlier this week. US officials who once praised the murders and proposed an estimate of the size of the group have refused to do so in recent months.

Zubair Babakarkhail contributed to this report.

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The interior of the wedding hall in Kabul, Afghanistan, is visible on Wednesday, November 21, 2018, a day after a suicide bombing.
RAHMAT GUL / AP