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Explosion Targets Wedding Hall In Kabul; 40 Dead 100 Wounded

The blast comes at a time in Afghanistan as the United States and the Taliban near a deal to end a nearly 18-year war, America’s longest conflict. Also, Afghanistan will mark its 100th independence day on Monday.
Mohammad Ismail / Reuters

In one of the deadliest attack in Kabul, over dozens killed and many wounded when a suicide bomb blast ripped through a wedding party on Saturday. As per officials, more than 1000 people had been invited at the Dubai city wedding hall in Western Kabul.

The blast comes at a time in Afghanistan as the United States and the Taliban near a deal to end a nearly 18-year war, America’s longest conflict. Also, Afghanistan will mark its 100th independence day on Monday.

Interior Ministry spokesperson Nusrat Rahimi tweeted the explosion occurred at 10:40 pm when dinner was served that led to high number of casualties. The government is expected to release the number of tolls by Sunday.

Associated Press reported the attackers set off explosives amongst the wedding participants. Both the Taliban and a local affiliate of the Islamic State group carry out bloody attacks in the capital.

According to Tolo news, the blast occurred near the stage where musicians were and “all the youths, children and all the people who were there were killed. One of the wounded, Mohammad Toofan, said that “a lot of guests were martyred.”

This is the second such attack on the minority Shitte Hazara community in the last two months. On August 7 this year, a Taliban car bomb aimed at Afghan forces was also detonated on the same road killing 14 people and wounding 145 which majorly included women and children.

“Devastated by the news of a suicide attack inside a wedding hall in Kabul. A heinous crime against our people; how is it possible to train a human and ask him to go and blow himself (up) inside a wedding?!!” Sediq Seddiqi, spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, said in a Twitter post.

In November last year, a suicide bomber sneaked into a wedding hall where hundreds of Muslim religious scholars and clerics had gathered to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad and killed 55 people on the spot.

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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.