This is one of the deadliest attacks since the beginning of the year in Afghanistan. The bombing that struck Saturday, August 17, in the evening, a wedding in Kabul killed at least 63 people and wounded 182, said Sunday, August 18 authorities.
"Among the victims there are women and children," said Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.
The explosion occurred at 22:40 "in the Shar Dubai wedding hall in western Kabul," Nasrat Rahimi said Saturday, August 17 without being able to deliver an initial assessment.
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Taliban spokesmen denied on Sunday August 18 the involvement of the insurgent group. "The Islamic Emirate (Taliban's name, Ed.) Strongly condemns the attack on civilians in Kabul, committing such deliberate and brutal killings and targeting women and children for no reason", tweeted two Taliban spokesmen.
The Afghan branch of the Islamic State (IS) group, the other terrorist group that is carrying out attacks in this country at war, has not come forward.
"Everyone ran out, shouting and crying"
"I was in the women's section when I heard a huge explosion in the men's section," Mohammad Farhag, a marriage participant, told AFP. "Everyone ran out, screaming and crying, the room was full of smoke, and almost everyone in the men's area was dead or wounded."
On July 12, in an IS-claimed attack, at least six people were killed and fourteen wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a ceremony in Nangarhar province in eastern Iran. Afghanistan.
Saturday's attack comes as the Afghan population, exasperated by indiscriminate violence, hopes for an agreement between the United States and the Taliban that would pave the way for peace talks between the Afghan government and the group. insurgent.
Several American sources suggested in recent days that an agreement could be imminent, but some points remained to be settled.
Special Envoy Zalmay Khalilzad, head of the US negotiating team, could return to the region in the coming days to continue or even finalize the negotiations.