Death increased to 25 in Kabul twin blasts
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Kabul, April 30: At least 25 people, including eight journalists, were killed in a coordinated double suicide bombing in the Afghan capital on Monday, according to government officials. The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.
A militant on a motorbike carried out the first explosion at 8 a.m. in the Shashdarak area in Police District 9 which houses the offices of Afghanistan's intelligence service, the Defence Ministry, NATO and a number of foreign embassies, prompting journalists to rush to the scene, the Afghan media reported.
A second explosion took place about 20 minutes later as a second attacker, disguised as a cameraman, detonated explosives at the site of the initial blast, targeting journalists and rescue workers at the scene, said Kabul police chief Daoud Amin.
Eight journalists and four police officers were among the dead, Interior Ministry spokesperson Najib Danish told the BBC. French news agency Agence France Presse confirmed that its photographer Shah Marai was among the dead.
Forty-nine people were injured in the two explosions and were taken to hospitals, Tolo News cited the Interior Ministry as saying.
The Islamic State claimed the bombings in a statement released through its news agency Amaq. The militant group said the intelligence services headquarters had been the target.
Afghan President Asharf Ghani condemned the twin blasts. "Attacks targeting innocent civilians, worshippers inside the mosques, national and democratic processes, reporters and freedom of speech all are war crimes," according to a statement released by the Presidential Palace.
US Ambassador John Bass tweeted: "I condemn today's terrible Kabul attack (and) reaffirm our commitment (to) stand with the Afghan people in their fight for peace (and) security across Afghanistan. We mourn for those murdered, including the brave journalists who stand for truth in the face of violence."
Afghanistan has seen a spate of attacks this year. Last week, six people, including two Afghan soldiers, were killed when a car bomb exploded in Afghanistan's Helmand province.
On April 22, an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked a voter registration centre in Kabul, killing 60 people.
In March, 31 people were killed during the Persian new year celebrations in an Islamic State attack near a Shia shrine in Kabul.
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Pakistan reports two more polio cases; Total tally now 52
ISLAMABAD: At least two more cases of poliovirus were reported in Pakistan, taking the number of infections to 52 so far this year, a report said on Friday.
“The Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication at the National Institute of Health has confirmed the detection of two more wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) cases in Pakistan," an official statement said.
The fresh infections — a boy and a girl — were reported from the Dera Ismail Khan district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province.
“Genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children is underway," the statement read. Dera Ismail Khan, one of the seven polio-endemic districts of southern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, has reported five polio cases so far this year.
Of the 52 cases in the country this year, 24 are from Balochistan, 13 from Sindh, 13 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.
There is no cure for polio. Only multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five can keep them protected.
