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Death Toll Rises To 30 In Bombings On Paktia Mosque
[ToloNews] Interior Ministry’s deputy front man Nusrat Rahimi says 20 of those maimed are at death's door and that the corpse count may rise.

The corpse count from twin blasts on a mosque in Gardez City of Paktia province climbed to 30 as Interior Ministry confirmed hours after the incident.

The blasts happened when two jacket wallahs entered Sahib-ul-Zaman Mosque in Khwaja Hassan area in Gardez’s PD2 at around 1:20pm Kabul time.

The attackers then opened fire on security guards of the mosque.

Interior Ministry’s deputy front man Nusrat Rahimi said 20 of those maimed are at death's door and that the corpse count may rise.

Paktia Police Chief Brigadier General Raz Mohammad Mandozai told TOLOnews that those inside the mosque were doing the Friday prayers.

"Attackers targeted a mosque of our Shiite brothers in Gardez City. Our information show that 20 people were martyred and up to 40 others were maimed," he said shortly after the incident.

Eyewitnesses said the attackers used hand grenades against worshippers inside the mosque.

The eyewitnesses said there were at least 600 people inside the mosque when the attacks happened.

"We were praying. Two suicide bombers blew their boom jackets here," a resident of Gardez said.

"Which kind of government is this? There is no ambulance, no assistance," a resident of Gardez said.

"We were not searched. We started to search others who entered the mosque," a resident of the province said.

Paktia residents said security agencies had not informed them of a possible attack in the area.

"The attackers used women’s dresses to enter the area and killed security guards and then carried out suicide kabooms inside the mosque," said Shamim Khan Katawazai, Governor of Paktia.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report last month that the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan reached a record high in the first half of the year, despite last month’s ceasefire, with a surge in suicide kabooms claimed by ISIS.

The report said that the covering period 1 January to 30 June 2018, findings include the killing of more civilians in the first six months of this year ‐ 1,692 deaths ‐ than at any comparable time over the last ten years since records have been kept.

Deaths rose 1 percent to 1,692, although injuries dropped 5 percent to 3,430, the United Nations
...a formerly good idea gone bad...
Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in its latest civilian casualty report. Overall civilian casualties were down 3 percent.

UNAMA renewed its call on parties to the conflict to increase efforts to protect the civilian population and encourages parties to work towards reaching a peaceful settlement.

Civilian casualty figures remain at record highs despite the unprecedented unilateral ceasefires by Government and Taliban
...Arabic for students...
that occurred over the three-day period 15-17 June 2018.

UNAMA attributed 52 per cent of civilian casualties from suicide and complex attacks to ISIS, mainly in Kabul and Nangarhar
The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country..
province. The Taliban were responsible for 40 per cent, the remainder were attributed to unidentified Anti-Government Elements.
Posted by: trailing wife 2018-08-04
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=519981