Afghanistan: Deadly suicide attack targets funeral in Nangarhar Dozens killed or wounded as attacker detonates explosives during the funeral ceremony of a local commander in Nangarhar.
Men carry an injured person to a hospital after a blast during a funeral ceremony in Khewa district of Nangarhar province [Parwiz/Reuters]
Dozens of people are believed to have been killed or wounded in a suicide blast at a funeral in eastern Afghanistan, according to the local government, in one of two attacks to hit the country.
The attacker detonated his explosives in the middle of the funeral ceremony in Khewa district on Tuesday, Atahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said.
Sohrab Qaderi, a member of Nangarhar’s provincial council, said at least 50 people were killed or wounded. The member of parliament, Hazrat Ali, survived, he added.
Mourners had gathered for the funeral of a local police commander who died of a heart attack on Monday night when the bomber struck “among the crowd, killing and wounding many”, Khogyani said.
The Taliban denied responsibility for the attack.
Battle-weary Nangarhar near the Pakistan border has long been a stronghold for both the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, or ISIS) group and Taliban and has witnessed some of the hardest fighting in recent years.
Separately, attackers stormed a maternity hospital
in the western part of the Afghan capital
on Tuesday, setting off a gun battle with police,
officials said.
Afghan forces carried out newborn babies and their mothers as they evacuated the hospital. At least four people were reported wounded.
The violence comes just a day after four roadside bombs exploded in a northern district of Kabul, wounding four civilians including a child.
The bombings were later claimed by ISIL, according to the SITE intelligence group.
In March, at least 25 people were killed by a gunman at a Sikh temple in Kabul, which was later claimed by the group.
In recent months, the armed group has suffered mounting setbacks after being hunted by US and Afghan forces as well as Taliban offensives targeting their fighters, but it still retains the ability to launch major assaults on urban centres.
The Taliban have largely refrained from launching large attacks on Afghan cities since February when they signed a landmark withdrawal deal with the United States meant to pave the way for peace talks with the Kabul government.
Under the agreement, the Taliban promised not to target forces from the US-led coalition, but made no such pledge toward Afghan troops and have stepped up attacks in the provinces.
