Sikhs among 19 killed in Afghan suicide blast
Jalalabad, July 2 : A suicide bomber blew himself up in an Afghan city of Jalalabad, where President Ashraf Ghani was to hold a meeting with provincial officials, killing at least 19 people, many of them Sikhs, officials said on Sunday.
The group of Sikhs were said to be on their way to meet President Ghani. Provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani confirmed the casualties and said it had been a suicide bombing. Khogyani did not provide more information about the blast, TOLONews reported.
The blast hit the busy market of Mukhabirat square, all the victims have been taken to the hospital, the official added. No group has claimed responsibility so far.
The media reported that the explosion happened close to the governor's compound. Security forces immediately cordoned off the area and ambulances were seen carrying the victims to hospital.
Ghani on Sunday attended the inauguration of a new hospital complex in Jalalabad and also met with local officials.
The President is only due to leave the province on Monday.
They were discussing ways and means to bolster the government-initiated peace process to encourage the Taliban to initiate a dialogue with the government to end the country's lingering crisis.
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Tirupati laddu row: Samples of Ayodhya Ram temple 'prasad' sent for testing
Ayodhya, Sep 27: The Food Safety and Drug Administration Department on Friday collected samples of 'elaichi daana' or cardamom seeds being distributed as 'prasad' at the Ram Janmabhoomi temple here and sent them for testing, officials said.
The action was taken following a complaint lodged through the Integrated Grievance Redressal System (IGRS), Assistant Food Commissioner Manik Chand Singh said.
Singh said the samples were procured from Haiderganj, where the cardamom seed offerings are prepared and sent to the Jhansi State Laboratory for comprehensive testing and evaluation.
Prakash Gupta, the officer in charge of the Ram Temple trust, revealed that on average, around 80,000 packets of cardamom seeds are distributed daily as a sacred offering.
Amid a row over the alleged presence of animal fat in laddus at the Tirupati Temple in Andhra Pradesh, the chief priest of the Ram temple here on Thursday questioned the purity of ghee being sold nationwide and said 'prasad' should be prepared under the supervision of temple priests only.
