JALALABAD: An explosion at a funeral in Afghanistan's restive east on Sunday killed at least 18 mourners and wounded every other 13, officials said, capping a deadly yr for abnormal Afghans.
There was no immediate claim of accountability for the blast which authorities first of all said was led to through a suicide attacker however now believe was precipitated through explosives hooked up to a bike.
The Taliban said on Twitter that they had nothing to do with the incident -- the most recent violence to say the lives of civilians in the war-torn nation.
"The explosion was caused by a motorcycle bomb our investigation has concluded," Nangarhar governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani instructed AFP.
The governor's office put the death toll from the assault near the provincial capital Jalalabad at 18, with 13 wounded.
Provincial well being director Najib Kamawal confirmed the new toll.
The explosion took place all through the funeral ceremony for a former governor of Haska Mina district who died recently of herbal reasons, a commentary from the governor's office said.
The twisted wreckage of a bike -- a well-liked mode of shipping in impoverished Afghanistan -- lay in the grime on the cemetery.
Pools of blood, clothes, shoes and hats have been scattered at the floor.
Photos posted on social media purportedly of the scene showed bodies lying in blood and a plume of black smoke emerging into the sky. Terrified mourners, mostly aged males, may well be seen running from the scene.
While the Taliban is still responsible for almost all of attacks and casualties across Afghanistan, Islamic State militants were on a rampage this month.
The incident in Nangarhar, a risky province bordering Pakistan and a stronghold for IS, comes days after the group claimed an assault on a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul that left 41 folks useless and greater than 80 wounded.
That followed a Christmas Day assault, additionally claimed through IS, near an Afghan intelligence company compound in the Afghan capital that left six civilians useless.
On December 18 militants from the group stormed an intelligence coaching compound in Kabul, triggering an intense gunfight with police, two of whom have been wounded.
The Middle Eastern jihadist outfit has received floor in Afghanistan since it first gave the impression in the area in 2015, and has scaled up its attacks in Kabul and elsewhere, together with on safety installations and the rustic's Shiite minority.
The latest news comes on the finish of a particularly fatal yr for Afghans, with the number of civilian casualties on the right track to be probably the most best on document since the USA invasion in 2001.
More than eight,000 civilians have been killed or wounded in conflict-related violence in the first nine months of this yr, consistent with data compiled through the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Last yr's civilian casualty toll of 11,418 was the best for a single yr since the UN started systematically documenting civilian deaths and accidents in 2009.
There was no immediate claim of accountability for the blast which authorities first of all said was led to through a suicide attacker however now believe was precipitated through explosives hooked up to a bike.
The Taliban said on Twitter that they had nothing to do with the incident -- the most recent violence to say the lives of civilians in the war-torn nation.
"The explosion was caused by a motorcycle bomb our investigation has concluded," Nangarhar governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani instructed AFP.
The governor's office put the death toll from the assault near the provincial capital Jalalabad at 18, with 13 wounded.
Provincial well being director Najib Kamawal confirmed the new toll.
The explosion took place all through the funeral ceremony for a former governor of Haska Mina district who died recently of herbal reasons, a commentary from the governor's office said.
The twisted wreckage of a bike -- a well-liked mode of shipping in impoverished Afghanistan -- lay in the grime on the cemetery.
Pools of blood, clothes, shoes and hats have been scattered at the floor.
Photos posted on social media purportedly of the scene showed bodies lying in blood and a plume of black smoke emerging into the sky. Terrified mourners, mostly aged males, may well be seen running from the scene.
While the Taliban is still responsible for almost all of attacks and casualties across Afghanistan, Islamic State militants were on a rampage this month.
The incident in Nangarhar, a risky province bordering Pakistan and a stronghold for IS, comes days after the group claimed an assault on a Shiite cultural centre in Kabul that left 41 folks useless and greater than 80 wounded.
That followed a Christmas Day assault, additionally claimed through IS, near an Afghan intelligence company compound in the Afghan capital that left six civilians useless.
On December 18 militants from the group stormed an intelligence coaching compound in Kabul, triggering an intense gunfight with police, two of whom have been wounded.
The Middle Eastern jihadist outfit has received floor in Afghanistan since it first gave the impression in the area in 2015, and has scaled up its attacks in Kabul and elsewhere, together with on safety installations and the rustic's Shiite minority.
The latest news comes on the finish of a particularly fatal yr for Afghans, with the number of civilian casualties on the right track to be probably the most best on document since the USA invasion in 2001.
More than eight,000 civilians have been killed or wounded in conflict-related violence in the first nine months of this yr, consistent with data compiled through the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.
Last yr's civilian casualty toll of 11,418 was the best for a single yr since the UN started systematically documenting civilian deaths and accidents in 2009.
18 dead in attack on Afghan funeral: Officials
Reviewed by Kailash
on
January 01, 2018
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