Kabul blast: 29 dead, 52 injured in bomb attack near Afghan shrine; updates

A suicide bomber blew himself up near a Shi’ite shrine in Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least 28 people and wounding 18, officials said, as the Afghan capital celebrated the Nawruz holiday marking the start of the Persian new year. The explosion underlined the threat to the city from militant attacks, despite government promises to tighten security in the wake of an attack in January that killed around 100 people.

In Cairo, militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, its Amaq news agency said. An affiliate of the group has claimed previous attacks on Shi’ite targets.

Kabul had been on alert for attacks over the Nawruz holiday but the bomber was still able to detonate his explosives as people were leaving the Kart-e Sakhi shrine, in the west of the city.

Eyewitnesses reportedly said all casualties were civilians.

Top 10 developments

1. The death toll may rise

At least 26 people have died so far. The toll may rise. 18 have been injured in Kabul.

2. Civilians suffer most casualties

3. IS claims responsibility

In Cairo, militant group Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, its Amaq news agency said. An affiliate of the group has claimed previous attacks on Shi’ite targets.

4. Kabul had been on alert for attacks over the Nawruz holiday but the bomber was still able to detonate his explosives as people were leaving the Kart-e Sakhi shrine, in the west of the city.

5. The Turkish state has been waging a war for decades against the banned Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Turkey’s mainly Kurdish southeast, a conflict that has intensified since a ceasefire collapsed in 2015. At the height of the PKK’s insurgency in the 1990s, Newroz celebrations were marked by clashes between protesters and security forces.

6. Nawroz festival celebrated in Afghanistan 

Nawroz, one of the biggest festivals celebrated in Iran, Iraq, the Central Asian republics and Afghanistan, marks the first day of spring and the beginning of the year in the Persian calendar.

7. About Nawroz

The holiday dates back about 3,500 years, with roots in Zoroastrianism, an ancient Persian religion that predates Islam and even Christianity. It’s a public holiday not only in Iran but also in Afghanistan, Iraq and Uzbekistan, among other countries. The observance actually lasts 12 days.

8. Turkey detained more than 100 suspected PKK members ahead of Newroz spring festival

Turkish authorities on Tuesday detained more than 100 suspected Kurdish militants on suspicion of planning illegal demonstrations or plotting attacks for the Newroz spring festival.

9. Turkey’s military and its rebel allies on Sunday captured the Syrian town of Afrin, the culmination of a two-month campaign to sweep Syrian Kurdish fighters from a pocket of northwest Syria near the Turkish border. Turkey considers the Syrian Kurdish YPG militia to be an extension of the PKK.

The military incursion in Syria has been opposed by Turkey’s main pro-Kurdish political party, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (HDP), which has called on Kurds to rally in solidarity with the people of Afrin during Newroz.

President Tayyip Erdogan called for Turks to celebrate the festival in peace, during what he said was a “sensitive period”.

10. The seemingly endless attacks have undermined support for the government of President Ashraf Ghani, who offered last month to hold peace talks with Taliban insurgents fighting to drive out international forces and reimpose their version of strict Islamic law.

With Agency inputs