A 13-year-old suicide bomber killed at least five people and wounded 40 today in an attack on a wedding ceremony in eastern Afghanistan.
Neither the Taliban nor Islamic State claimed responsibility for this morning’s attack in Nangarhar, a volatile province on the border with Pakistan.
Among those killed was Malik Toor, a commander of a pro-government militia who had organised the wedding, police official Fayz Mohammad Babarkhil said. It is understood Toor was likely the target. A wounded man is tended to as others stricken in the blast are laid up in hospital in
Nangarhar province
‘This morning at 8am, a suicide bomber detonated himself at a wedding ceremony…in Pachiragam district’, Attaullah Khogyani, the Nangarhar governor’s spokesman, told AFP. ‘As a result, five killed, more than 40 wounded.’
Hazrat Khan Khaksar, the Pachiragam district governor, put the toll at 14 killed and 14 wounded but he cautioned the figures might change.
Zahir Adil, the Nangarhar regional hospital spokesman, told AFP that two bodies and 11 wounded victims had been taken to the hospital in central Nangarhar city.
Official figures have ranged from 11 injured to up to 40 after the 13-year-old blew himself up
The explosion comes just days after historic talks between Afghan representatives and the Taliban wrapped up as part of a US-led effort to end the war.
At the conclusion of the two-day summit in Doha, parties unveiled a joint resolution pledging a ‘roadmap for peace’ in which they sought to reduce civilian casualties to ‘zero’.
Direct talks between US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad and the Taliban also took place last week.
