Afghanistan: Bomb rips through wedding in Kabul

Afghan health workers carry a wounded man into the hospital after the attackImage copyright
EPA

Image caption

Afghan health workers carry a wounded man into the hospital after the attack

An explosion has ripped through a wedding hall in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and many casualties are feared.

Eye witnesses told the BBC a suicide bomber detonated explosives during a wedding ceremony. Witnesses said they had seen bodies.

The explosion happened at around 22:40 local time (18.10 GMT) in an area mostly populated by Shia residents.

No group said it carried out the attack, which happened in the west of the city.

Sunni Muslim militants, including the Taliban and the Islamic State group, have repeatedly targeted Shia Hazara minorities in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

The latest blast comes just 10 days after a huge bomb outside a Kabul police station killed at least 14 people and injured nearly 150.

The Taliban said it carried out that attack.

Tensions in the country have been high even though the Taliban and the United States, which has thousands of troops stationed in Afghanistan, are reportedly close to announcing a peace deal.

source: bbc.com