KABUL • A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a voter registration centre in the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday, killing at least 52 people and wounding 112 others, most of them waiting in line to receive identity cards, officials said.
The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack on a project of key importance to the credibility of President Ashraf Ghani's Western-backed government, which has pledged to hold parliamentary elections this year.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said a bomber on foot approached the centre where officials had been issuing identity cards as part of the registration process for the elections set for October.
The explosion destroyed cars and shattered windows in nearby buildings, leaving rubble strewn across the street. It was the most serious attack in Kabul since about 100 people were killed in January by a bomb concealed in an ambulance.
The blast took place in Dasht-e Barchi, an area of western Kabul inhabited by many members of the mainly Shi'ite Hazara minority, which has been repeatedly hit by attacks claimed by ISIS.
"There were women, children. Everyone had come to get their identity cards," said Mr Bashir Ahmad, who had been near the blast, which occurred despite heightened security measures following the attack in January.
Voter registration centres have been set up across Afghanistan ahead of the long-delayed parliamentary and district council elections due to be held in October, and there have been serious concerns that militants might attack them.
President Ghani has been under heavy pressure from his international partners to ensure the elections are held this year, ahead of a presidential vote due next year, although there has been widespread scepticism that they will take place.
"They (the government) should be keeping the country safe. If they can't, someone else should be in their place," said a Ms Sajeda, who was wounded in the blast along with three other members of her family as they lined up for their cards.
Voter registration began this month but there have already been a number of attacks apparently aimed at disrupting the preparations.
Also yesterday, a roadside bomb near a voter registration centre in the northern city of Pul-i Khumri killed six members of a family and wounded three as they drove past the site, although there was no indication the attacks were linked.
Unless the process of registering millions of voters can be completed before winter starts in November, the parliamentary elections would almost certainly have to be postponed until next year.
According to UN figures, more than 750 people have been killed or maimed in suicide attacks and bombings by militants during the three months to March.
REUTERS
