19 killed as suicide bomber targets protesters in Afghanistan

At least 19 people were killed and 57 wounded on Tuesday in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province in a suicide attack on protesters who were calling for the dismissal of a police commander.

The incident, the fourth attack to hit the region on Tuesday, took place around 1 p.m, when an insurgent detonated a bomb he was carrying in his vest in the Momand Darah district, said Attaullah Khogyanai, spokesperson for Nangarhar governor.

"So far 19 martyred and 57 injured in suicide attack," Inamullah Myakhil, spokesman for Nangarhar Public Health Department told Efe news.

The incident occurred on the highway that connects Jalalabad with the Torkham border pass between Afghanistan and Pakistan, where a protest against a local police commander from the neighbouring Achin province was being held.

No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

This was the fourth attack of the day, after a 14-year-old died and four civilians were injured in three separate explosions near two girls' schools in Nangarhar. Two other blasts took place in Bihsud district early morning.

Khogyanai said that the third attack took place in the police district 3 of the capital where one civilian sustained injuries.

In the past weeks, Nangarhar, the bastion of the Islamic State terror organization since it became active in the country in 2015, has faced a large number of attacks targeting elections, the government and civilians.

In late August, two people died and four were injured in a suicide attack during a protest near a provincial office of the Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan.

--IANS

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