At least 83 people were wounded in the blast, health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said, which targeted religious leaders inside a wedding hall where hundreds had gathered to mark the Prophet Mohammad's birthday. Local police were not asked to provide security, so the bomber easily got inside to target all the gathered clerics and religious scholars, Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid told The Associated Press. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, but the Islamic State group has claimed most recent suicide attacks in Kabul, which has become the most dangerous place in the country for civilians. It is not the first time that religious scholars have been targeted by militants in the deeply religious country.
The death toll in the suicide bomb attack at a gathering of religious scholars in Kabul rises to 55.