Suicide Bomber Kills 40 At Kabul’s Shiite Cultural Centre

Around 40 people were killed and dozens more wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up inside a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul on Thursday, officials said.

It was the latest violence to hit the Afghan capital.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but the Taliban was quick to deny involvement in the assault near the Afghan Voice Agency, a media outlet which earlier reports had suggested could have been the target.

Deputy interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi told AFP the attack was in fact aimed at the Shiite Tabayan cultural centre in the west of the city.

“The suicide attacker detonated himself during a gathering at Tabayan cultural centre causing a lot of casualties,” Rahimi said.

The main explosion was followed by two smaller bomb blasts that did not cause casualties, he said, adding that the gathering was being held to mark the 38th anniversary of Soviet invasion in Afghanistan.

There were chaotic scenes at the Istiqlal hospital where ambulances brought victims, including women and children. Many of them were suffering severe burns to their faces and bodies, as well as shrapnel wounds, AFP reporters said.

Anguished relatives searching for their loved ones inside the medical facility, slapping their heads in fury as they cried and cursed the government for seemingly being unable to end the regular carnage on their streets.

Some were so distraught they crawled on the ground pulling their hair.