Twin bombings kill 58 in Afghanistan

Afghan residents inspect the site of a suicide bombing outside a voter registration centre in Kabul. Pic/AFP

At least 58 people were killed in twin blasts in Afghanistan on Sunday while another 117 were injured, media reports said. The first blast took place around 10 a.m. when a suicide bomber blew himself up among a crowd lining up to get access to an election-related registration site in Kabul, killing 52 and injuring 112, Xinhua news agency reported.

Around two hours later, a bomb went off close to a voter registration centre in Baghlan, killing six persons and injuring five others. All victims were members of the same family, Tolo News reported. The family was driving past the centre in Pul-e-Khumri city when the IED detonated, health officials said.

The dead included women and children while several wounded in Kabul remained in critical condition. Terror group Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack while police said the attackers in Baghlan were Taliban. Afghan officials have slated October 20 as the date for the upcoming parliamentary and district councils elections. The voter registration process started on April 14.

Two policemen have been killed and five people, including three election officials, have been kidnapped since the voter registration began. Afghans will elect members to the 249-seat lower house of Parliament for a five-year term besides members of district councils. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, the UN mission in the country apart from the Indian and Iranian governments have strongly condemned the attacks.

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