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Afghanistan: Suicide attack kills 31 people in Kabul

Just Earth News | @justearthnews | 22 Apr 2018

Afghanistan: Suicide attack kills 31 people in Kabul

Kabul: At least 31 people were killed in a suicide attack on a voter registration centre in the Dasht-i-Barchi area of Afghanistan's Kabul city on Sunday, media reports said.

The incident left 54 others injured.

Hashmatullah Stanikzai, a Kabul police official, told Pajhwok Afghan News the explosion happened when a suicide bomber targeted civilians who had gathered to receive identity cards at 10am.

Dr. Wahid Majroh, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health, told the news agency 31 dead and 54 injured individuals had been evacuated to hospitals from the blast site.

Police have blocked the road which led to the blast site.

According to reports, huge explosion was heard across the city.

Several vehicles have been reportedly damaged, reports said.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.

Terrorism-hit Afghanistan in 2018:

Afghanistan has witnessed several terrorism-related attacks this year.

Armed conflict in Afghanistan killed 763 civilians and injured 1,495 in the first three months of this year, the United Nations mission in the country said recently.

“All parties to the conflict in Afghanistan must do everything in their power to protect civilians from harm,” said Ingrid Hayden, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative for Afghanistan. “Afghan civilians continue to suffer, caught in the conflict, in ways that are preventable; this must stop now.”

The 2,258 civilian casualties, documented from 1 January to 31 March by the UN Assistance Mission in the country, known as UNAMA, are at the similar levels recorded in the first three months of 2017 and 2016. Anti-Government elements caused 1,500 civilian casualties, up six per cent from the same period last year.

Suicide improvised explosive devices (IED) and complex attacks were the leading cause of civilian casualties – a new trend. The Mission found that combats on the ground were the second leading cause, followed by targeted and deliberate killings, explosive remnants of war, and aerial operations.