Twin blasts on Kabul wrestling club kills 20, injured 70

Two separate incidents of bombings in Kabul on Wednesday left at least 20 people dead, including two journalists and another 70 injured, officials said.

An hour after a suicide bomber blew himself up inside the Kabul Wrestling club hall in a heavily Shiite neighbourhood, a car packed with explosives detonated as journalists and security forces gathered at the scene, police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said.

A reporter and cameraman from Tolo News, Afghanistan’s largest private broadcaster, who among the 20 killed were doing a live report from the explosion scene when a second detonated, said the sources.

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At least four journalists were also wounded in the second explosion, media support group NAI said.

Civilians and members of the security forces also were among the dead and wounded, said the sources.

According to the US-based SITE intelligence group, the Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the twin explosions in Dahst-e-Barchi, home to many members of the mainly Shia Muslim Hazara ethnic minority in Afghanistan.

Condemning the horrendous act in the latest deadly attacks in the Afghan capital, President Ashraf Ghani said in a statement, “An attack on civilians and media workers of the country is an attack on freedom of speech and crime against humanity.”

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According to reports, Wednesday’s attack comes a day after the Taliban announced the death of Jalaluddin Haqqani, who founded the eponymous militant group which is widely suspected of being behind some of the attacks in Kabul claimed by IS.

The last major attack on Shiites in Kabul was on August 15 when a suicide bomber blew himself up in an education centre, killing dozens of students.

On April 30, twin blasts in Kabul also killed nine media workers and 16 other people.

(With PTI inputs)