At least seven dead after Kabul suicide bombing

A suicide bombing targeted a gathering of Afghanistan’s top clerics in Kabul, killing at least seven people and wounding 20, the police said. Shortly before the attack struck, the clerics had issued a fatwa against suicide bombings and urged peace talks to end the Afghan war.

Ghafor Aziz, police chief of Kabul’s 5th District, said the bomber detonated his explosives near the entrance of a compound where the religious body, known as the Afghan Ulema Council, was meeting under the traditional tent of the Loya Jirga, the council of elders.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack on Monday.

Initially, four people were reported killed but the police very soon raised the death toll to seven. It was not immediately clear how many of the clerics were among the casualties.

Aziz added that had the attacker penetrated deeper, the casualty numbers could have been significantly higher.

Najib Danish, spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said the seven fatalities included one policeman. Two policemen were wounded, he added. Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahid Majroh said the 20 wounded were taken to different hospitals, hence the full toll was not immediately known.

Around 2,000 members of the council had gathered for the meeting at the tent erected in the Afghan capital’s 5th District. The explosion struck as the council was ending and the participants were about to leave, Aziz said.

Shortly before the attack, the clerics had issued an Islamic ruling, or a fatwa, declaring that suicide attacks are “haram” — forbidden under Islamic law.