The death toll from a suicide bomb attack at a protest gathering in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on Tuesday has risen to 68, a government official said, adding that 165 people were wounded. The suicide bomber set off explosives in a crowd of hundreds of people protesting on the main road to the border crossing into neighboring Pakistan, Reuters said. They were protesting against a police commander. The provincial governor’s spokesman, Attahullah Khogyani, made a statement with a revised casualty total on Wednesday. Earlier estimates put the death toll at 32. The attack was one of the worst in Afghanistan for months. </s> The death toll from a suicide bomb attack at a protest gathering in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar on Tuesday has risen to 68, with 165 wounded, a government official said.

The suicide bomber set off explosives in a crowd of hundreds of people protesting on the main road to the border crossing into neighbouring Pakistan. They were protesting against a police commander.

The provincial governor's spokesman, Attahullah Khogyani, issued a statement with a revised casualty total on Wednesday after earlier estimates put the death toll at 32.

The attack was one of the worst in Afghanistan for months but security officials have warned that similar attacks are likely if crowds gather for campaign rallies ahead of parliamentary elections in October. </s> Afghan official: Death toll in suicide bombing rises to 68

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — An Afghan official says the death toll in a suicide bombing among a group of people protesting a local police commander in eastern Afghanistan has risen to 68, up from 32.

Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, says Wednesday that 165 others were wounded in the attack a day earlier.

The bombing happened when a group from the district of Achin came to Momandara district to block the main highway between the capital Jalalabad and the Torkham border with Pakistan.

The Taliban denied any involvement in the attack.

No any other group immediately claimed responsibility for the attacks, but both Taliban insurgents and the Islamic State group are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Nangarhar province. </s> JALALABAD, Sept 12 — The death toll from a suicide attack on Afghan protesters has soared to 68, officials said today, as violence flares across the country ahead of elections and a key Islamic holy day.

Another 165 were wounded in the blast — one of the deadliest attacks this year — yesterday in the eastern province of Nangarhar, provincial governor spokesman Ataullah Khogyani said.

There has been no claim of responsibility for the massacre, but the Islamic State group, which has carried out most of the recent suicide bombings in Afghanistan, is active in the province.

Scores of demonstrators had blocked the highway between the provincial capital of Jalalabad and a major Pakistan border crossing in protest over the appointment of a local police chief when the suicide bomber blew himself up.

The dead and wounded were rushed to several hospitals in the back of pickup trucks and ambulances, overwhelming doctors and nurses as they struggled to cope with the huge number of casualties.

It was the deadliest attack since an ambulance packed with explosives detonated in a crowded street in the heart of Kabul in January, killing more than 100 people, mostly civilians. That bombing was claimed by the Taliban. — AFP </s> KABUL, Afghanistan — Spokesman for provincial governor says number of killed in suicide bombing in eastern Afghanistan rises to 68.

Copyright 2018 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. </s> The death toll in a suicide bombing among a group of people protesting a local police commander in eastern Afghanistan has risen to 68, up from 32, provincial officials said yesterday.

Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, said 165 others were wounded in the attack a day earlier.

The bombing happened when a group from the district of Achin came to Momandara district to block the main highway between the capital Jalalabad and the Torkham border with Pakistan.

The Taliban denied any involvement. No other group immediately claimed responsibility, but both Taliban insurgents and the Islamic State group are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Nangarhar province.

A local affiliate of the Islamic State group has emerged in recent years and carried out brazen and increasingly deadly attacks, most often targeting civilians and the country’s minority Shiite Muslims, who it views as apostates. The Taliban and the IS affiliate are enemies and have attacked each other’s forces. Both the Taliban and IS carry out near-daily attacks in Afghanistan targeting security forces and government officials.

Tuesday’s attack was marked by one of the highest death tolls in attacks in Afghanistan this year. In January, a Taliban-claimed suicide bombing in the capital Kabul killed at least 103.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the suicide attack against the demonstrators. </s> (KABUL, Afghanistan) — Afghan police say the death toll from the previous night’s suicide attack in Kabul has jumped to 20, with another 27 policemen wounded.

The attack took place on Thursday night in the eastern part of the Afghan capital where dozens of security officers had congregated to protect a demonstration of shopkeepers that had been held earlier in the day.

First reports immediately after the blast put the death toll at six officers but police official Jan Agha said that by Friday morning, the number of those killed had significantly increased.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the bombing but both Taliban insurgents and the Islamic State group’s affiliate in Afghanistan have targeted the country’s security forces in the past. </s> KABUL, Aug 21 (Reuters) - The death toll from a suicide bomb attack on a wedding reception in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, has risen to 80, two senior officials said on Wednesday.

The initial death toll after the Saturday night blast was 63, but some of the wounded had died in hospital, said Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman at the interior ministry.

"Seventeen others have succumbed to their injuries in hospital and over 160 are still being treated either in hospitals or at home," Rahimi said.

The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility for the attack. (Reporting by Abdul Qadir Sediqi, Rupam Jain Editing by Robeert Birsel) </s> The death toll in a suicide bombing among a group of people protesting a local police commander in eastern Afghanistan has risen to 68

(KABUL, Afghanistan) — The death toll in a suicide bombing among a group of people protesting a local police commander in eastern Afghanistan has risen to 68, up from 32, provincial officials Wednesday.

Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, said 165 others were wounded in the attack a day earlier.

The bombing happened when a group from the district of Achin came to Momandara district to block the main highway between the capital Jalalabad and the Torkham border with Pakistan.

The Taliban denied any involvement. No any other group immediately claimed responsibility, but both Taliban insurgents and the Islamic State group are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially in Nangarhar province.

A local affiliate of the Islamic State group has emerged in recent years and carried out brazen and increasingly deadly attacks, most often targeting civilians and the country’s minority Shiite Muslims, who it views as apostates. The Taliban and the Islamic State affiliate are enemies and have attacked each other’s forces.

Both the Taliban and IS carry out near-daily attacks in Afghanistan targeting security forces and government officials.

Tuesday’s attack was marked by one of the highest death tolls in attacks in Afghanistan this year. In January, a Taliban-claimed suicide bombing in the capital Kabul killed at least 103.

Afghan president Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the suicide attack against the demonstrators in Nangarhar. In a statement he said that “attacks on civilian facilities, mosques, women, children, are all crimes against humanity.”
The death toll from yesterday's suicide attack on protesters in eastern Afghanistan rises to 68.