AFP |
The massive blast, claimed by the Islamic State (ISIS), which took place late Saturday in west Kabul, underscores both the inadequacy of Afghanistan’s security forces and the scale of the problem they face as Washington and the Taliban finalize a deal to reduce the US military presence in Afghanistan and hopefully build a roadmap to a ceasefire.
The groom recalled greeting smiling guests in the afternoon, before seeing their bodies being carried out hours later. The attack “changed my happiness to sorrow”, the young man, who gave his name as Mirwais, told local TV station Tolo News. “My family, my bride are in shock, they cannot even speak. My bride keeps fainting,” he said. “I lost my brother, I lost my friends, I lost my relatives. I will never see happiness in my life again.”
Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said a suicide bomber working for the Islamic State (ISIS) carried out the attack, with at least 63 people killed and 182 injured. “Among the wounded are women and children,” Rahimi said.
An Afghan wedding that turned into a tragedy pic.twitter.com/WNpviRmBrj
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 18, 2019
Afghan weddings are epic and vibrant affairs, with hundreds or often thousands of guests celebrating for hours inside industrial-scale wedding halls where men are usually segregated from women and children.
“The wedding guests were dancing and celebrating the party when the blast happened,” recounted Munir Ahmad, 23, who was seriously injured and whose cousin was among the dead.
“Following the explosion, there was total chaos. Everyone was screaming and crying for their loved ones,” he told reporters from his bed in a local hospital, where he was being treated for shrapnel wounds.
Images from inside the hall showed blood-stained bodies on the ground along with pieces of flesh and torn clothes, hats, sandals and bottles of mineral water. The huge blast ripped parts of the ceiling off.
The wedding was largely a gathering of Shia Muslims, who frequently are targeted in Sunni-majority Afghanistan, particularly by ISIS.
The Sunni extremist group’s Afghan affiliate claimed responsibility for the blast, saying the bomber targeted the wedding because it was Shia.
Wedding guest Hameed Quresh told reporters that the young bride and groom were saying their vows when the bomb went off. “We fainted following the blast, and we don’t know who brought us to the hospital,” sobbed Quresh, who lost one brother and was himself wounded.
Another guest told Tolo that about 1,200 people had been invited. With low security, weddings are seen as easy targets for terrorist groups like ISIS. The attack sent a wave of grief through a city grimly accustomed to atrocities and garnered broad condemnation.
"We postponed Independence Day celebrations to honor the victims (of Kabul attack) but we will take the revenge of our people," President Ghani says at a ceremony on #Independence Day. pic.twitter.com/DIa0zVdtXF
— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 19, 2019
President Ashraf Ghani called it “barbaric”, while Afghanistan’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah described it as a “crime against humanity”. As a sign of mourning, Ghani postponed celebrations which were scheduled for Monday to mark 100 years of Afghan independence from Britain.
Withdrawal deal expected
While the police and army claim they prevent most bombings from ever happening, insurgents pull off horrific attacks with chilling regularity.
On July 28, at least 20 people were killed when attackers targeted Ghani’s running mate Amrullah Saleh during presidential election campaigning. The issue also goes to the heart of a prospective deal between the US and the Islamist extremist Taliban that would see Washington begin to withdraw its approximately 14,000 soldiers from Afghanistan. Several US sources suggested in recent days that an agreement could be imminent, but some points remain to be resolved.
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We condemn ISIS and yesterday’s heinous attack on a Kabul wedding hall that killed scores of innocent Afghan families who had gathered to celebrate what was meant to be a joyous occasion.
— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) August 18, 2019
US peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, who condemned the “heinous attack” on the wedding party, could return to the region in the coming days to continue or even finalize the negotiations with Taliban.
“We must accelerate the Afghan Peace Process including intra-Afghan negotiations. Success here will put Afghans in a much stronger position to defeat ISIS,” he tweeted. The deal relies on Taliban guarantees they will stop jihadist groups such as Al-Qaeda and IS from using Afghanistan as a safe haven.
We must accelerate the #AfghanPeaceProcess including intra-Afghan negotiations. Success here will put Afghans in a much stronger position to defeat ISIS.
— U.S. Special Representative Zalmay Khalilzad (@US4AfghanPeace) August 18, 2019
Saturday’s attack suggests any such promise would be tough to keep. The “Taliban cannot absolve themselves of blame, for they provide platform for terrorists,” Ghani said. Few believe such a deal will bring quick peace and Afghans fear the Taliban could return, eroding hard-won rights for women and leading to a spiraling civil war.
In the northern province of Balkh, a roadside bomb killed 11 members of the same family, officials said, blaming the Taliban.
AFP with additional input by GVS News Desk