14 killed as bombing targets gathering of Muslim clerics in Afghan capital
At least 14 people have been killed in the Afghan capital Kabul, after a bomber detonated his explosive device close to a compound, where senior Muslim clerics were meeting on ways to end violence and promote peace in the war-torn country.
The bombing occurred at the entrance of the compound near a residential area in the west of Kabul as the participants were leaving the meeting on Monday, said police chief Ghafor Aziz.
According to local media, around 3,000 clerics were attending the meeting of the Ulema Council, Afghanistan’s top religious leaders.
The attack came shortly after the council issued a statement at the end of the event, declaring that “suicide attacks” are forbidden under Islamic law.
During the meeting, Ghofranullah Murad, a member of the council, read out the statement, which appealed on both the government and local Taliban militants to stop years of fighting.
For the first time, the council, which includes Muslim clerics, scholars and men of authority in religion and law from across the country, called on both sides to start peace negotiations and agree on a ceasefire.
In the statement, the council warned that violence is taking a heavy toll on innocent Afghan men, women and children.
In recent months, many civilians and security forces have fallen victim to militant attacks claimed by both Taliban and the Takfiri Daesh terror group in Kabul.
Late last month, the Taliban issued a warning for Kabul residents to stay away from “military bases” since they were planning to carry out more attacks on “the enemy’s military and intelligence centers.”
The Afghan Defense Ministry reacted to the warning by saying that police and troops were “ready to protect the people with all means possible,” and that they would not allow the militants to reach their “un-Islamic and inhuman goals.”
According to the figures released by the UN, 1,831 civilians were killed or wounded nationwide in 2017, with the Afghan capital accounting for 16 percent of all the civilian casualties.
Over the past year, Kabul has witnessed two of its deadliest bomb attacks since the US and its allies invaded the country under the pretext of fighting terrorism in 2001.
On May 31, 2017, truck bomb attack by Daesh-affiliated militants killed more than 150 people in Kabul.
An ambulance bomb claimed by Taliban on January 27 this year also left some 100 people deal in the Afghan capital.
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