A suicide attack causes carnage in an Afghan market

The explosion of a car bomb caused a massacre Tuesday in a market in Afghanistan. At least 89 civilians, including many children, have died in the suicide attack and 42 were injured. The blast occurred at a market Orgun District, Paktika Province (eastern Afghanistan).

“Right now, the police are taking the wounded to hospitals,” the deputy director of the local police, Nissar Ahmad Abdulrahimzai, told Reuters. The Afghan news agency Khaama has said in its website that there has been a powerful explosion that has left ” dozens” of dead and wounded, without specifying the amount.

So far, no terrorist group has claimed responsibility for the attack. The suspected suicide bomber detonated explosives hidden in a 4×4 vehicle in the parking of market, crowded at the time of the event.

The district governor of Orgun, Mohammad Raza Kharoti, explained to the BBC that the victims are mostly traders and customers who shop for the holidays with the ending Ramadan. ” The bazaar was full of civilians,” said the governor.

This is one of the worst attacks in Afghanistan in recent years. More than 60 people were killed in two attacks against the Shiite minority in 2011 and 41 others were killed in a suicide attack on the Feast of Sacrifice – largest festival of the Muslims in 2012.

Suicide bombings are, along with improvised explosive devices (IED), the most frequent methods used by Taliban to attack the Afghan and international forces deployed in the country, although in practice cause, as in this case, a high number of civilian casualties.

Meanwhile, two employees of the presidential palace were killed and seven were injured this morning when a bomb exploded when the vehicle they were traveling on the outskirts of Kabul.

In the first six months of this year, 1,564 Afghan civilians were killed, 17% more than in the first half of 2013, while the wounded were 3,289, up 28%.

The data show a worrying situation in Afghanistan after the end of year when the Afghan security forces will be responsible for security after the gradual withdrawal of the ISAF, the NATO mission in Afghanistan, which will conclude later this year. Although the U.S. plans to keep about 9,800 troops in the country to complete its departure in late 2016.

Short URL: https://www.newspakistan.pk/?p=46393

Posted by Jamshed Sindhu on Jul 16 2014. Filed under Latest News, South Asia. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.