As families and friends mourn the loss of those killed in an attack on a military hospital in Kabul, Afghan officials launched an investigation on those responsible for the assault.

Gunmen dressed in white lab coats stormed the Sardar Daud Khan hospital in the centre of the capital on Wednesday, firing shots, detonating explosives and then battling security forces for hours. The assault resulted in the death of more than 40 people.

The Afghan interior ministry and the defence ministry on Thursday announced a probe into a claim by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) armed group that it was behind the attack.

“We are assessing Daesh claims to yesterday’s attack, but at this stage we can’t make a prejudgment prior to conclusion of investigation,” Sediq Sediqqi, the spokesperson of the Afghan ministry of interior said in a tweet, using an Arabic acronym for ISIL, also known as ISIS.

“Brutal terrorist groups like ISIS (ISIL), Taliban, Haqqani and many other regional terrorist networks with safe havens in Pakistan have been behind many horrific attacks in the past,” he added.

The Afghan Taliban, which attacked the Sardar Daud Khan hospital in 2013 killing six people, denied responsibility for Wednesday’s assault.

According to US military officials, ISIL has about 700 fighters in Afghanistan. The group has previously claimed responsibility for a number of attacks that resulted in a large number of casualties, including a twin suicide bombing at a protest march in Kabul last year that left at least 80 people dead.

As reports emerged of ISIL’s claim of responsibility, some analysts said the group does not have the capacity to conduct an attack of this magnitude.

“[ISIL] is still trying to gain a foothold in the east of the country,” Inayatullah Kakar, an Afghan security and political analyst, told a foreign news publication.

“ISIL does exist in Afghanistan, but for them to conduct an attack like this in an area that is heavily guarded and with this calibre that killed so many people, it doesn’t seem possible, as they are still trying to gain territories in eastern Afghanistan, while fighting the Taliban.”

The UN Security Council also denounced the attack in a statement released on Thursday and urged the international community to cooperate with the Afghan government to bring those responsible to justice and to suppress the financing of “terrorism”.

The death toll has risen to 49 with dozens wounded, a senior health official said on Thursday.

Salim Rassouli, director of Kabul hospitals, said 49 people had been killed in the attack on the Sardar Mohammad Khan military hospital on Wednesday, with at least 63 wounded.

Some uncertainty remained over the exact figure and one security official said more than 90 people had been wounded. Earlier estimates had put the number of dead at more than 30 with 50 wounded.

Gunmen went through the 400-bed hospital, shooting doctors, patients and visitors and battling security forces for several hours in a sophisticated operation claimed by Islamic State. </s> The death toll from a suicide bomb attack at a wedding hall in Afghanistan's capital Kabul has risen to 80.

The death toll stood at 63 on Sunday, a day after the blast, which jumped to 80 by Wednesday. Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said 17 civilians died from their wounds in recent days.

He added that 30 people were in critical condition after the attack.

"Seventeen others have succumbed to their injuries in hospital and over 160 are still being treated either in hospitals or at home," Rahimi said.

The blast was so powerful that it blew much of the roof off the huge wedding hall, where hundreds of guests had gathered.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was Kabul's deadliest attack since January 2018 when the Taliban packed an ambulance with explosives and detonated it in a crowded street - killing 103 people, according to an official toll.

Many Afghanistan independence day celebrations that were scheduled to take place on August 19 were suspended in the aftermath of the horrific attack.

Security failure

So far, security officials have yet to provide any explanation as to why the wedding was targeted.

Mansoor, a 28-year-old Afghan who had 12 relatives attending the wedding, said he was told by some survivors that the attacker arrived on a bicycle.

He said he believed the target of the attack was not the wedding party.

"If you pay attention, there is a police headquarters on this road. There are at least two checkpoints he would have passed. Everyone said he appeared to be heading further along the road, but somehow he turned back," he said.

Though Afghan wedding events have been targeted in the past, the attacks have mostly taken place in remote areas and usually attended by high-profile officials or strongmen targeted by rival forces or armed groups such as the Taliban or ISIL.

US forces have also been accused of attacking several wedding parties across the country during their military air campaigns.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack, vowing to "take revenge for every civilian drop of blood".

"Our struggle will continue against [ISIL], we will take revenge and will root them out," he said on Monday.

He urged the international community to join those efforts.

With additional reporting by Ali M Latifi in Kabul </s> TEHRAN, Aug. 19 (MNA) – A bomb attack by ISIL targeting a wedding in the Afghan capital of Kabul left at least 63 people dead and more than 180 others injured on Saturday. </s> 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> A series of explosions in restaurants and public squares in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad have wounded more than 30 people, local officials said.

Monday's attacks took place as Afghanistan marked the 100th anniversary of its independence from British rule.

At least six explosions took place in different parts of the city, Nangarhar Provincial Governor Shah Mahmood Miakhel said, according to local media Tolo news.

Senior health official Fahim Bashari said at least 34 people were wounded after blasts targeted Independence Day events.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks.

The attacks follow a weekend bomb attack on a wedding reception in the capital, Kabul, in which 63 people were killed and nearly 200 wounded. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group.

President Ashraf Ghani, in an independence day address in Kabul, called on the international community to stand with Afghanistan to eradicate the fighters' "nests".

"Our fight against the Daesh will continue," he said, referring to ISIL.

Independence day celebrations in Kabul have been curtailed out of respect for those who died in the attack on Saturday.

The main event to coincide with the reopening of Darulaman Palace, which was heavily damaged during the civil war in the 1990s, was postponed.

Al Jazeera's Charlotte Bellis, reporting from the capital, said: "There is still concern over the security in light of Saturday night."

"A lot of people are staying home just out of caution instead of celebrating in large groups."

The United States and the Taliban have been holding regular meetings in Qatar since October to try to end the country's 18-year conflict.

A potential agreement would see the US withdrawal of approximately 14,000 soldiers from Afghanistan in exchange for Taliban security guarantees.

On Sunday, Trump told reporters that the US would seek to get troop levels below 13,000 but leave "very significant" intelligence capabilities behind.

In an independence day statement, the Taliban said they were looking forward to the departure of all foreign forces.

"The day approaches closer when these invaders shall completely leave our country, akin to the British and Soviets before them," it said.

While never part of the British empire, Afghanistan gained complete independence from Britain on August 19, 1919. </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> The suicide bomber stood in the middle of the dancing, clapping crowd as hundreds of Afghan children and adults celebrated a wedding in a joyous release from Kabul’s strain of war. Then, in a flash, he detonated his explosives-filled vest, killing dozens — and Afghanistan grieved again.

The local Daesh affiliate claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in the capital this year, with 63 killed and 182 wounded, while outraged Afghans questioned just how safe they will be under an approaching deal between the United States and the Taliban to end America’s longest war.

The Taliban condemned the attack but Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said they shared responsibility. “The Taliban cannot absolve themselves of blame, for they provide a platform for terrorists,” he said.

Ghani said the attack was “barbaric,” and Afghanistan’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah described it as a “crime against humanity.”

Saudi Arabia offered its condolences to the victims’ families and the government and people of Afghanistan, wishing the injured a speedy recovery.. “We condemn and denounce the suicide bombing,” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.

“We renew the Kingdom’s firm position against targeting and terrorizing innocent people, and all manifestations of terrorism and violence.”

The explosion came just ahead of Afghanistan’s 100th Independence Day on Monday. The city, long familiar with checkpoints and razor wire, has been under heavier security. It was not immediately clear if planned events in Kabul would go ahead.

The attack came as the Taliban and the US try to negotiate an agreement on the withdrawal of US forces in exchange for a Taliban commitment on security and peace talks with the Afghan government. So far the Taliban have refused to talk to the government.

The US special envoy for Afghanistan, Zalmay Khalilzad, said the attack showed the need to accelerate efforts to reach a deal with the Taliban, to help defeat Daesh.

But there are concerns among Afghan officials and US national security aides that Afghanistan could be plunged into a new civil war that could bring a return of Taliban rule and a refuge for extremists such as Daesh.

While the US wants Taliban assurances that Afghanistan will no longer be used as a launch pad for global terror attacks, there appear to be no guarantees of protection for Afghan civilians.

The Taliban, which the US hopes will help curb the Daesh affiliate’s rise, condemned Saturday’s attack as “forbidden and unjustifiable.”

The blast took place in a western Kabul neighborhood that is home to many in the country’s minority Shiite Hazara community. Daesh, which declared war on Afghanistan’s Shiites nearly two years ago and has claimed responsibility for many attacks targeting them in the past, said in a statement that a Pakistani Daesh fighter seeking martyrdom targeted a large Shiite gathering.

The wedding, at which more than 1,200 people had been invited, was in fact a mixed crowd of Shiites and Sunnis, said the event hall’s owner, Hussain Ali.

Ali’s workers were still finding body parts, including hands, in the shattered wedding hall, its floor strewn with broken glass, pieces of furniture and victims’ shoes.

“We have informed the police to come and collect them,” he said.

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 Gul Mohammad, another witness.

Survivors described a panicked scene in the suddenly darkened hall as people screamed and scrambled to find loved ones.

“I was with the groom in the other room when we heard the blast and then I couldn’t find anyone,” said Ahmad Omid, who said the groom was his father’s cousin. “Everyone was lying all around the hall.”

Many of the dead and wounded were women and children attending the wedding. Bodies were strewn amid overturned tables and chairs, with dark bloodstains on the wedding hall carpet.Both the bride and groom survived the attack, but newlywed Mirwais Elmi was distraught. “I won’t ever be able to forget this, however much I try,” he said.

“My family, my bride, are in shock, they cannot even speak. My bride keeps fainting. I lost my brother, I lost my friends, I lost my relatives. I will never see happiness in my life again.”

The bride’s father said 14 members of his family had been killed.

“People were dancing and celebrating the party when the blast happened,” said wedding guest Munir Ahmad, 23, who was seriously injured. “After the explosion there was total chaos. Everyone was screaming and crying for their loved ones.”

Stunned families buried the dead, some digging with their bare hands. One wounded survivor, Mohammad Aslim, still wore his bloodied clothes the day after the blast late Saturday. He and his friends had already buried 16 bodies, among them several close relatives, including a 7-year-old boy.

Aslim looked exhausted, and said he was waiting to bury more. Nearby a man named Amanullah, who lost his 14-year-old son, said in anguish that the explosion had mangled the boy’s face so badly he could no longer recognize it.

“I wish I could find the pieces of my son’s body and put them as one piece into the grave,” he cried.

The blast at the wedding hall, known as Dubai City, shattered a period of relative calm in Kabul.

On Aug. 7, a Taliban car bomber aimed at Afghan security forces detonated his explosives on the same road, a short drive from the hall, 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 often spent on a single evening.

Messages of shock poured in on Sunday. “Such acts are beyond condemnation,” the European Union mission to Afghanistan said. “An act of extreme depravity,” US Ambassador John Bass said. A deliberate attack on civilians “can only be described as a cowardly act of terror,” UN envoy to Afghanistan Tadamichi Yamamoto said. </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.
ISIL claims responsibility for a terrorist attack against a wedding party in Afghanistan the day prior, which left 63 people dead and over 200 injured.