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7 dead in suicide bombing targeting gathering of clerics in Kabul
[DAWN] A suicide kaboom targeted a gathering of Afghanistan’s top holy mans on Monday in Kabul, killing at least seven people and wounding nine, the police said.Shortly before the attack struck, the holy mans had issued a fatwa against suicide kabooms and urged peace talks to end the Afghan war. That worked well. Ghafor Aziz, police chief of Kabul’s 5th District, said the bomber detonated his explosives near the entrance of a compound where the religious body, known as the Afghan Ulema Council, was meeting under the traditional tent of the Loya Jirga, the council of elders. No one immediately grabbed credit for the attack. Initially, four people were reported killed but the police very soon raised the corpse count to seven and said that nine people were maimed. It was not immediately clear how many of the holy mans were among those killed. Aziz added that had the attacker penetrated deeper, the casualty numbers could have been significantly higher. Around 2,000 members of the council had gathered for the meeting at the tent erected in the Afghan capital’s 5th District. The kaboom struck as the council was ending and the participants were about to leave, Aziz also said. Shortly before the attack, the holy mans had issued a fatwa, declaring that suicide kabooms are "haram" ‐ forbidden under Islamic law. The council appealed on both the Afghan government forces and the Taliban ...the Pashtun equivalent of men... and other murderous Moslems to halt the fighting and agree on a cease-fire. It also called for peace negotiations between the two sides. It was the first time the council has issued such an appeal. Less than an hour before the attack happened, Ghofranullah Murad, a member of the council, read out a written statement from the gathering saying that innocent Afghan men, women and kiddies are the true victims of war. Taliban rejects involvement in the attack on religious scholars in Kabul  [Khaama (Afghanistan)] The Talibs group in Afghanistan rejected the involvement of the group in the attack on religious scholars gathering in Kabul city.Taliban ...Arabic for students... front man Zabiullah Mujahid issued a statement after the attack, saying the group has no links with the kaboom in Polytechnic University. The Kabul police commandment officials confirm that 7 people were killed and at least nine others were maimed in a suicide kaboom in Kabul city today. A front man for the Kabul police commandment Hashmat Stanikzai said at least seven people including a policeman were killed and nine others were maimed. Stanikzai further added that two coppers were among those maimed in the attack. Acccording to Stanikzai, the incident took place at around 11:30 am local time after a jacket wallah detonated his explosives near the entrance of Loya Jirga camp where a large gathering was underway. However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... another security official says at least 14 people were killed and 17 others were maimed in the attack. Posted by: Fred 2018-06-05 |
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