A suicide-bomb blast ripped through a wedding party on a busy Saturday night in Afghanistan’s capital, killing 63 people and wounding 182 others, a government official said. More than 1,000 people had been invited, one witness said.

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. The Taliban earlier denied responsibility for the blast at a west Kabul wedding hall.

“Among the wounded are women and children,” Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said on Sunday the Taliban could not escape blame for a “barbaric” suicide bomb attack on a wedding hall in the capital, Kabul, that killed 63 people.



“The Taliban cannot absolve themselves of blame for they provide platform for terrorists,” Ghani said in a post on Twitter.

Rahimi told The Associated Press the attacker set off explosives among the wedding participants. Both the Taliban and a local affiliate of the ISIS often carry out bloody attacks in the capital.

“Around 1,200 guests were invited to the wedding,” said Ahmad Omid, a survivor who said the gathering was for his father’s cousin. “I was with the groom in the other room when we heard the blast and then I couldn't find anyone. Everyone was lying all around the hall.”

Outside a local hospital, families wailed. “There are so many dead and wounded victims,” Omid said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi told The Associated Press there was no immediate information on the cause of the blast. Both the Taliban and a local affiliate of ISIS carry out bloody attacks in the capital.

The blast at the Dubai City wedding hall in western Kabul shattered a period of relative calm in the city.

On August 7, a Taliban car bomb aimed at Afghan security forces detonated on the same road in a busy west Kabul neighborhood, killing 14 people and wounding 145 - most of them women, children and other civilians.

Kabul’s huge, brightly lit wedding halls are a center of community life in a city weary of decades of war, with thousands of dollars spent on a single evening.

The halls also serve as meeting places, and in November at least 55 people were killed after a suicide bomber sneaked into a Kabul wedding hall where hundreds of Muslim religious scholars and clerics had gathered to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad.

“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.

Last Update: Sunday, 18 August 2019 KSA 13:18 - GMT 10:18 </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding in Afghanistan's capital is at least 63, including women and children, officials said Sunday, as Kabul reeled from its deadliest attack this year.

Another 182 civilians were wounded in the Saturday night explosion, government spokesman Feroz Bashari said. Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi confirmed the toll.

The Taliban have condemned the attack and denied any involvement in the blast that carried the hallmarks of an assault by the local affiliate of the Islamic State organization.

The blast occurred in a western Kabul neighborhood that many in the minority Shiite Muslim Hazara community call home, and the Islamic State affiliate has claimed responsibility for some attacks against the community in the past.

Rahimi said the attacker set off explosives among the wedding participants.

The blast occurred near the stage where musicians were and "all the youths, children and all the people who were there were killed," witness Gul Mohammad said. One of the wounded, Mohammad Toofan, said that "a lot of guests were martyred."

"There are so many dead and wounded," said Ahmad Omid, a survivor, adding that about 1,200 guests had been invited to the wedding for his father's cousin. "I was with the groom in the other room when we heard the blast and then I couldn't find anyone. Everyone was lying all around the hall."

Outside a local hospital, families wailed. Others were covered in blood.

The blast at the Dubai City wedding hall in western Kabul shattered a period of relative calm. On Aug. 7, a Taliban car bomb aimed at Afghan security forces detonated on the same road, killing 14 people and wounding 145 — most of them women, children and other civilians.

Kabul's huge, brightly lit wedding halls are centers of community life in a city weary of decades of war, with thousands of dollars spent on a single evening.

"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.

The wedding halls also serve as meeting places, and in November at least 55 people were killed when a suicide bomber sneaked into a Kabul wedding hall where hundreds of Muslim religious scholars and clerics had gathered to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. The Taliban denied involvement in an attack that bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State affiliate.

Saturday night's explosion came a few days after the end of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, with Kabul residents visiting family and friends, and just before Afghanistan marks its 100th independence day on Monday under heavier security in a city long familiar with checkpoints and razor wire.

The blast comes at a greatly uncertain time in Afghanistan as the United States and the Taliban near a deal to end a nearly 18-year war, America's longest conflict.

The Afghan government has been sidelined from those discussions, and presidential spokesman Seddiqi said earlier Saturday that his government was waiting to hear results of President Donald Trump's meeting Friday with his national security team about the negotiations. Top issues include a U.S. troop withdrawal and Taliban guarantees not to let Afghanistan become a launching pad for global terror attacks. </s> Damaged Dubai City wedding hall is seen after an explosion in Kabul, Afghanistan, Sunday, Aug. 18, 2019. A suicide-bomb blast ripped through a wedding party on a busy Saturday night. (AP Photo/Rafiq Maqbool)

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – An Afghan official says at least 63 people have been killed when a suicide bomber detonated explosives in a packed wedding hall late Saturday night in Kabul.

Feroz Bashari, a government spokesman, says182 civilians have been wounded in the attack that took place in western part of the city.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi says the attacker set off explosives among the guests.

The Taliban have condemned the attack and denied any involvement.

Both the Taliban and the local affiliate of the Islamic State group have carried out bloody attacks in the capital. </s> KABUL (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 18th August, 2019) The death toll in the explosion that took place at a wedding hall in the Afghan capital of Kabul has risen to 63, a security source told Sputnik on Saturday.

"At least 63 people who attended the wedding ceremony in the west of Kabul have been killed and 182 more wounded," the source said.

An explosion took place at a wedding reception in the west of Afghanistan's capital at 10:40 p.m. local time (18:10 GMT). After the blast, the Afghan Interior Ministry said that all of the injured people were transported to a hospital.

No militant group has yet claimed responsibility for the bombing.

In the meantime, the Taliban movement in a statement has rejected the involvement of the group in the bombing and condemned the attack. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan – A suicide bomb attack at a wedding in Kabul Saturday killed 63 people and wounded 182, an Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Among the victims were women and children, spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. About 20 people were taken to a Kabul hospital run by the Italian NGO Emergency, the organization said.

“We were planning to sleep when we heard the sound of a loud explosion,” a witness who lives near the venue and did not want to be identified told CNN.

“When I came outside, I saw smoke coming out of the hall. I saw dead bodies and wounded people, who were being taken to hospitals by policemen and Kabul ambulances. We are too in shock, too upset by the incident.”

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. It said a Pakistani fighter detonated an explosive vest amid a large gathering of Shia Muslims, reported the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist group activities.

The terror group also said a car bombing followed the initial attack, added SITE.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and said that despite the Taliban’s denials of responsibility, it still shared some of the blame because it “provides a platform for terrorists.”

“My top priority for now is to reach out to the families of victims of this barbaric attack,” Ghani said on Twitter.

He added that in response to the attack, he had “called an extraordinary security meeting to review and prevent such security lapses.”

The venue is in western Kabul, an area home to many of Afghanistan’s Shiite Hazara minority. It is also near the Darul Aman palace, where President Ashraf Ghani is expected to celebrate Afghan Independence Day Monday.

Earlier this month, 14 people were killed and 145 injured in the same district when three suicide attackers detonated an improvised explosive device at the gate of the police headquarters.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the August 7 attack, even as the terror group negotiates a peace plan with Washington. </s> A suicide bomb attack at a wedding in Kabul on Saturday killed 63 people and wounded 182, an Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Among the victims were women and children, spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. About 20 people were taken to a Kabul hospital run by the Italian NGO Emergency, the organization said.

“We were planning to sleep when we heard the sound of a loud explosion,” a witness who lives near the venue and did not want to be identified told CNN.

“When I came outside, I saw smoke coming out of the hall. I saw dead bodies and wounded people, who were being taken to hospitals by policemen and Kabul ambulances. We are too in shock, too upset by the incident.”

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. It said a Pakistani fighter detonated an explosive vest amid a large gathering of Shia Muslims, reported the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist group activities.

The terror group also said a car bombing followed the initial attack, added SITE.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and said that despite the Taliban’s denials of responsibility, it still shared some of the blame because it “provides a platform for terrorists.”

“My top priority for now is to reach out to the families of victims of this barbaric attack,” Ghani said on Twitter.

He added that in response to the attack, he had “called an extraordinary security meeting to review and prevent such security lapses.”

The venue is in western Kabul, an area home to many of Afghanistan’s Shiite Hazara minority. It is also near the Darul Aman palace, where President Ashraf Ghani is expected to celebrate Afghan Independence Day on Monday.

Earlier this month, 14 people were killed and 145 injured in the same district when three suicide attackers detonated an improvised explosive device at the gate of the police headquarters.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the August 7 attack, even as the terror group negotiates a peace plan with Washington. </s> (CNN) — A suicide bomb attack at a wedding in Kabul on Saturday killed 63 people and wounded 182, an Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Among the victims were women and children, spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. About 20 people were taken to a Kabul hospital run by the Italian NGO Emergency, the organization said.

“We were planning to sleep when we heard the sound of a loud explosion,” a witness who lives near the venue and did not want to be identified told CNN.

“When I came outside, I saw smoke coming out of the hall. I saw dead bodies and wounded people, who were being taken to hospitals by policemen and Kabul ambulances. We are too in shock, too upset by the incident.”

ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. It said a Pakistani fighter detonated an explosive vest amid a large gathering of Shia Muslims, reported the SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors terrorist group activities.

The terror group also said a car bombing followed the initial attack, added SITE.

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attack and said that despite the Taliban’s denials of responsibility, it still shared some of the blame because it “provides a platform for terrorists.”

“My top priority for now is to reach out to the families of victims of this barbaric attack,” Ghani said on Twitter.

He added that in response to the attack, he had “called an extraordinary security meeting to review and prevent such security lapses.”

The venue is in western Kabul, an area home to many of Afghanistan’s Shiite Hazara minority. It is also near the Darul Aman palace, where President Ashraf Ghani is expected to celebrate Afghan Independence Day on Monday.

Earlier this month, 14 people were killed and 145 injured in the same district when three suicide attackers detonated an improvised explosive device at the gate of the police headquarters.

The Taliban claimed responsibility for the August 7 attack, even as the terror group negotiates a peace plan with Washington. </s> A local affiliate of the Islamic State terror group claimed responsibility Sunday for a late-night suicide bombing at a crowded wedding party in the Afghan capital that killed at least 63 people, including women and children, in what was the deadliest attack in Kabul this year.

The Saturday night blast occurred in a western Kabul neighborhood that is home to many of the country’s minority Shiite Hazara community. IS has claimed responsibility for many attacks targeting Shiites in the past. A statement by the militant group posted on an IS-linked website on Sunday said a Pakistani IS fighter seeking martyrdom targeted a large Shiite gathering in Kabul.

The statement also claimed that after the suicide bombing, a car bomb was detonated in the attack but Afghan officials have not confirmed this.

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Another 182 people were wounded in the explosion, government spokesman Feroz Bashari said. Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi confirmed the casualty toll as families began to bury the dead. Some helped to dig graves with their bare hands.

Kabul residents were outraged as there appears to be no end to violence even as the United States and the Taliban say they are nearing a deal to end their 18-year conflict, America’s longest war.

The Taliban condemned the attack as “forbidden and unjustifiable” and denied any involvement. Both the Taliban and IS have carried large-scale attacks in the Afghan capital in the past.

The bomber detonated his explosives near the stage where musicians were playing and “all the youths, children and all the people who were there were killed,” said eyewitness Gul Mohammad.

Ahmad Omid, a survivor, said about 1,200 guests had been invited to the wedding of his father’s cousin.

“I was with the groom in the other room when we heard the blast and then I couldn’t find anyone,” he said. “Everyone was lying all around the hall.”

Amid the carnage were blood-covered chairs, crushed music speakers and a pile of abandoned shoes.

The blast at the hall, known as Dubai City wedding hall, shattered a period of relative calm in Kabul. On August 7, a Taliban car bomb aimed at Afghan security forces detonated his explosives on the same road, killing 14 people and wounding 145 — most of them women, children and other civilians.

Kabul’s huge, brightly lit wedding halls are centers of community life in a city weary of decades of war, with thousands of dollars spent on a single evening.

“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?!!” presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi said in a Twitter post.

Messages of shock poured in on Sunday. “Such acts are beyond condemnation,” the European Union mission to Afghanistan said. “An act of extreme depravity,” U.S. Ambassador John Bass said.

The wedding halls also serve as meeting places, and in November, at least 55 people were killed when a suicide bomber sneaked into a Kabul wedding hall where hundreds of Muslim religious scholars and clerics had gathered to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. The Taliban denied involvement in that attack, and IS did not claim responsibility.

Saturday night’s explosion came a few days after the end of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, with Kabul residents visiting family and friends, and just ahead of Afghanistan’s 100th Independence Day on Monday. The city, long familiar with checkpoints and razor wire, has been under heavier security ahead of the event.

The blast also comes at a greatly uncertain time in Afghanistan as the US and the Taliban appear close to a deal on ending the war. The Afghan government has been sidelined from those discussions, and presidential spokesman Seddiqi on Saturday said his government was waiting to hear results of US President Donald Trump’s meeting Friday with his national security team about the negotiations.

Top issues include a US troop withdrawal and Taliban guarantees they would not allow Afghanistan to become a launching pad for global terror attacks.

But many Afghans fear that terror attacks inside the country will continue, and their pleas for peace — and for details on the talks — have increased in recent days.

“Taliban cannot absolve themselves of blame, for they provide platform for terrorists,” President Ashraf Ghani said Sunday on Twitter, declaring a day of mourning and calling the attack “inhumane.”

Frustration at the authorities has also grown.

“We want the government to stop arguing about power and act like a human being to bring peace to this country,” a worker at the wedding hall, Hajji Reza, said Sunday. </s> Kabul - The number of people killed in an Islamic State suicide bombing of a wedding hall in Afghanistan's capital Kabul has risen to 80, an official said on Wednesday. Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said that the increase was due to a number of critically injured victims succumbing to their wounds.

The ministry had on Sunday said that 63 people were killed and 182 others injured in the bombing that had taken place late Saturday night.

The bombing, the city's deadliest so far this year, took place on Dar-ul Aman road, where the streets were illuminated with colourful lights at night for the 100th anniversary of Afghanistan's independence that was to be celebrated on August 19.

Extensive celebrations were originally planned throughout the country with 4.8 million dollars allocated by the government to be spent on the festivities in a presidential decree from June.

Some events were postponed or cancelled after the bombing.

The attack was the 17th to take place in Kabul since the beginning of the year and the second deadliest one in August alone. At least 193 people have died and nearly 900 others have been injured in the attacks.
63 people are killed and 182 wounded in a suicide attack at a wedding party in Kabul, Afghanistan. The attacker set off explosives among the invitees.