Twin blasts turn regular Kabul wrestling session into massacre

The wrestling mats were spattered with blood, the sports bags and water bottles still strewn across the floor Thursday, hours after a double bombing ripped through the Maiwand sports club in Kabul, killing at least 26 people.

A regular training session on Wednesday afternoon turned into a massacre when a suicide bomber shot dead a young, unarmed guard at the entrance before blowing himself up near the scores of wrestlers, some of whom were as young as 10.

An hour later a car packed with explosives detonated outside the club, apparently targeting reporters and emergency workers who had gathered at the scene.

Two journalists from Tolo News, Afghanistan's largest private broadcaster, were among the dead. Four media workers were wounded.

"There were dead and wounded everywhere," 14-year-old wrestler Sayed Rohullah told AFP from his bed at Isteqlal hospital, where dozens of casualties were taken after the twin blasts.

"Everyone was covered in glass and pieces of shrapnel, and shouting for their loved ones. After the explosion I couldn't feel my legs."
"Some people have already taken their martyrs home. I am still searching for many missing students and coaches."