AFGHANISTAN – 32 people have reportedly died in a suicide attack in Afghanistan. Several hospital and medical staff struggled to treat 128 people wounded by the powerful blast in Nangarhar province due to the chaos the attack caused.
The suicide attack on protesters happened in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday and killed at least 32 people, officials said, as an uptick in violence across the war-torn country dampens hopes for peace talks and elections.
Gul Majid was among scores of protesters blocking the highway between the provincial capital of Jalalabad and a major Pakistan border crossing when he “heard a big bomb”.
“Then I saw flesh, blood and people wounded all around me,” Majid told AFP outside one of the hospitals.
“I am still looking for my friends. I don’t know whether they are alive or dead.”
The protests have been going on against the appointment of a local police chief, provincial governor spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said.
The latest casualty toll has been confirmed by the provincial health directors.
The attack has come just hours after a double bombing happened in front of a girls’ school in the provincial capital Jalalabad. A boy was killed and 4 people were wounded.
The first explosion happened in front of Malika Omaira girls’ school at around 8:30 am (0400 GMT), Khogyani told AFP earlier.
A second bomb went off as students from a neighbouring boys’ school and locals gathered at the scene, he added.
So far no claim of responsibility for any of the attacks has been made.
The wave of violence in Afghanistan has been going on for the past few weeks and has claimed hundreds of lives.
A ceasefire in June followed by talks between US officials and Taliban representatives in Qatar in July raised hopes that peace negotiations could bring an end to the fighting. The two sides are likely to meet later this month.
