Afghan official: Suicide bomber strikes gathering of religious scholars in Kabul; at least 50 killed and wounded

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Afghan official: Suicide bomber strikes gathering of religious scholars in Kabul; at least 50 killed and wounded. At least 72 people were wounded in the blast, health ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said, which targeted religious scholars and leaders inside a wedding hall where hundreds had gathered to mark the Prophet Mohammad’s birthday — one of the holiest days in the Islamic calendar. “Hundreds of Islamic scholars and their followers had gathered to recite verses from the holy Quran to observe the Eid Milad-un-Nabi festival at the private banquet hall,” said Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for Kabul police. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Taliban and a local Daesh affiliate have targeted religious scholars aligned with the government in the past. A suicide attack on Afghans protesting the appointment of a local police chief in the eastern province of Nangarhar in September killed at least 68 people and wounded another 165.
At least 50 people are killed and 83 others wounded in a suicide bombing on a Mawlid gathering in Kabul, Afghanistan.