KABUL, September 5
A suicide attack at a wrestling club in a Shia neighbourhood 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 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.
Last month, dozens of students preparing for a university entrance examination were killed at an educational centre in the area.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said the second explosion hit as police were helping victims and a number of journalists were at the site. Pictures showed young men in torn wrestling kit helping the wounded onto vehicles to be taken to hospital.
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. Last April, a suicide bomber apparently targeted journalists covering an attack in central Kabul, killing nine. 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. — Reuters
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