At least 20 dead as twin blasts hit Afghan capital

KABUL: A suicide attack at a wrestling club in neighborhood of the Afghan capital Kabul and a second explosion apparently targeting emergency services and journalists killed at least 20 people and wounded 70 on Wednesday, officials said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Wednesday night in Dasht-e-Barchi, home to many members of the mainly Shi'ite Muslim Hazara ethnic minority which has been targeted in the past by Sunni militants of Islamic State. Prior to Wednesday’s attack, the area had seen a series of similar incidents, most recently last month, when dozens of students preparing for a university entrance examination were killed at an educational center. Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said the second explosion hit as police were helping victims and a number of journalists were at the site. A reporter and a cameraman from Afghanistan's largest broadcaster, Tolo News, were killed in the second blast and four other local television crew were wounded, according to NAI, a group supporting open media in Afghanistan. Wednesday’s attack underlined the danger in Kabul as elections approach next month, as well as the threat facing the Hazaras, a Persian-speaking minority that has long faced discrimination and which has borne the brunt of attacks claimed by Islamic State in Kabul.
A Suicide attack at a wrestling club in a Hazara Shi’ite neighborhood of the Afghan capital Kabul and a second explosion apparently targeting emergency services and journalists kills at least 20 people and wounds 70 others.