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 from a suicide bomb attack at a wedding hall in Afghanistan's capital Kabul has risen to 80.

The death toll stood at 63 on Sunday, a day after the blast, which jumped to 80 by Wednesday. Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said 17 civilians died from their wounds in recent days.

He added that 30 people were in critical condition after the attack.

"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 blast was so powerful that it blew much of the roof off the huge wedding hall, where hundreds of guests had gathered.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL or ISIS) group claimed responsibility for the attack.

It was Kabul's deadliest attack since January 2018 when the Taliban packed an ambulance with explosives and detonated it in a crowded street - killing 103 people, according to an official toll.

Many Afghanistan independence day celebrations that were scheduled to take place on August 19 were suspended in the aftermath of the horrific attack.

Security failure

So far, security officials have yet to provide any explanation as to why the wedding was targeted.

Mansoor, a 28-year-old Afghan who had 12 relatives attending the wedding, said he was told by some survivors that the attacker arrived on a bicycle.

He said he believed the target of the attack was not the wedding party.

"If you pay attention, there is a police headquarters on this road. There are at least two checkpoints he would have passed. Everyone said he appeared to be heading further along the road, but somehow he turned back," he said.

Though Afghan wedding events have been targeted in the past, the attacks have mostly taken place in remote areas and usually attended by high-profile officials or strongmen targeted by rival forces or armed groups such as the Taliban or ISIL.

US forces have also been accused of attacking several wedding parties across the country during their military air campaigns.

Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani strongly condemned the attack, vowing to "take revenge for every civilian drop of blood".

"Our struggle will continue against [ISIL], we will take revenge and will root them out," he said on Monday.

He urged the international community to join those efforts.

With additional reporting by Ali M Latifi in Kabul </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The death toll from a suicide bombing at a wedding in Afghanistan's capital is at least 63, including women and children, officials said Sunday, as Kabul reeled from its deadliest attack this year.

Another 182 civilians were wounded in the Saturday night explosion, government spokesman Feroz Bashari said. Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi confirmed the toll.

The Taliban have condemned the attack and denied any involvement in the blast that carried the hallmarks of an assault by the local affiliate of the Islamic State organization.

The blast occurred in a western Kabul neighborhood that many in the minority Shiite Muslim Hazara community call home, and the Islamic State affiliate has claimed responsibility for some attacks against the community in the past.

Rahimi said the attacker set off explosives among the wedding participants.

The blast occurred near the stage where musicians were and "all the youths, children and all the people who were there were killed," witness Gul Mohammad said. One of the wounded, Mohammad Toofan, said that "a lot of guests were martyred."

"There are so many dead and wounded," said Ahmad Omid, a survivor, adding that about 1,200 guests had been invited to the wedding for his father's cousin. "I was with the groom in the other room when we heard the blast and then I couldn't find anyone. Everyone was lying all around the hall."

Outside a local hospital, families wailed. Others were covered in blood.

The blast at the Dubai City wedding hall in western Kabul shattered a period of relative calm. On Aug. 7, a Taliban car bomb aimed at Afghan security forces detonated on the same road, killing 14 people and wounding 145 — most of them women, children and other civilians.

Kabul's huge, brightly lit wedding halls are centers of community life in a city weary of decades of war, with thousands of dollars spent on a single evening.

"Devastated by the news of a suicide attack inside a wedding hall in Kabul. A heinous crime against our people; how is it possible to train a human and ask him to go and blow himself (up) inside a wedding?!!" Sediq Seddiqi, spokesman for President Ashraf Ghani, said in a Twitter post.

The wedding halls also serve as meeting places, and in November at least 55 people were killed when a suicide bomber sneaked into a Kabul wedding hall where hundreds of Muslim religious scholars and clerics had gathered to mark the birthday of the Prophet Muhammad. The Taliban denied involvement in an attack that bore the hallmarks of the Islamic State affiliate.

Saturday night's explosion came a few days after the end of the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, with Kabul residents visiting family and friends, and just before Afghanistan marks its 100th independence day on Monday under heavier security in a city long familiar with checkpoints and razor wire.

The blast comes at a greatly uncertain time in Afghanistan as the United States and the Taliban near a deal to end a nearly 18-year war, America's longest conflict.

The Afghan government has been sidelined from those discussions, and presidential spokesman Seddiqi said earlier Saturday that his government was waiting to hear results of President Donald Trump's meeting Friday with his national security team about the negotiations. Top issues include a U.S. troop withdrawal and Taliban guarantees not to let Afghanistan become a launching pad for global terror attacks. </s> Toll from suicide blast at Afghan wedding 63 dead and 182 hurt: ministry

A suicide bomber killed 63 people and wounded 182 in an attack on a wedding reception in the Afghan capital on Saturday night, the interior ministry said. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The death toll in a suicide bombing at a Kabul wedding claimed by the Islamic State affiliate in Afghanistan has risen to 80, an official said Wednesday, as a U.S. envoy was set to resume talks with the Taliban on ending America's longest war.

The initial toll in Saturday's blast was 63, but 17 people later died of their wounds, Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said. Thirty people were in critical condition after the attack.

The suicide bombing renewed concerns that the growing threat by the IS affiliate will mean little peace for Afghan civilians despite the U.S.-Taliban negotiations to end nearly 18 years of fighting.

"We will try and close on remaining issues," envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said on Twitter. "We're ready. Let's see if the Taliban are as well." </s> The death toll from a suicide bomb attack on a wedding party in Kabul last week has risen to 80, two senior Afghan officials said on August 21.

The initial death toll after the August 17 explosion was 63, but some of the wounded had died in hospital, said Nasrat Rahimi, an Interior Ministry spokesman.

"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 (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack on a huge wedding reception at a hotel in western Kabul.

The attack was the 17th to take place in Kabul since the beginning of the year and the second deadliest one in August alone.

At least 193 people have died and nearly 900 others have been injured in the attacks.

The attack came with Washington and the Taliban reportedly nearing a deal to end the nearly 18-year war

With reporting by Reuters and dpa </s> KABUL: 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 (Aug 21).

The initial death toll after the Saturday night blast was 63, but some of the wounded had died, 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.

Among the 160 people wounded at the wedding blast, many are in critical condition, some not well enough to undergo surgery, said a second senior interior ministry official.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group claimed responsibility for the attack.

READ: Islamic State bomber kills 63 at Kabul wedding as US finalises pullout



Mirwais Elmi Mohammadi, the 26-year-old groom whose wedding party was attacked, said he was in a complete state of disbelief and had no mental strength to attend the funerals of his relatives and friends.

"To see family members die, or get injured at my wedding is a very heavy burden of grief and regret," Mohammadi told Reuters.

Many Afghans have cancelled or scaled back plans for weddings and other festivities in recent days and are demanding that the government tightens security to protect society.

At least 3,812 civilians were killed or wounded in the first half of 2019 in the war against militant groups, including a big increase in the number of casualties caused by government and foreign forces, the United Nations said in July.

Police said more than 25 weddings had been postponed in Kabul after the latest suicide attack renewed fears about the threat posed by IS at a time when the United States and the Taliban appear to be nearing a deal on a US troop withdrawal.

"We pay taxes to the government and it is the responsibility of the government to provide us with high security. We have the right to be protected," said Mohammad Nader Qarghaie, head of the union of wedding halls.

The union, which has more than 100 wedding halls and large banquet rooms as members.

A frustrated Mohammad Ashraf, who owns a food catering business in Kabul, said civilians had to be protected.

"Afghans are being used as pawns by all foreign countries and militant groups to prove their strength," Ashraf said.

On Tuesday, US President Donald Trump said the US military role in Afghanistan has basically turned into a "ridiculous" police force in a sign that he was open to a US troop drawdown after a deal with the Taliban.

US special envoy for Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad, who has been leading talks with the Taliban, is expected in Qatar on Wednesday to resume meetings with Taliban negotiators.

He is later due to travel to Kabul to meet Afghan leaders. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan — An Afghan official says the death toll in a suicide bombing at a wedding in Kabul claimed by the local Islamic State affiliate has risen to 80. The initial death toll in Saturday’s blast was 63.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi said on Wednesday that 17 civilians have died from their wounds in recent days. He says 30 people were in critical condition after the attack.

The new toll was confirmed as the United States envoy negotiating with the Taliban for an end to nearly 18 years of fighting in Afghanistan is returning to Qatar to resume the talks with the insurgents.

Concerns are growing that the IS threat will mean little peace for Afghan civilians despite the U.S.-Taliban negotiations to end America’s longest war. </s> KABUL, Afghanistan : A 13-year-old suicide bomber blew himself up at a wedding early Friday in eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province, killing five people and injuring 11 others, police officials said.

Among those killed was Malik Toor, a commander of a pro-government militia who had organized the wedding, police official Fayz Mohammad Babarkhil said.

Officials said Toor was the likely target of the attack, which took place in Pachirwa Agham district of Nangarhar province.

No one took responsibility for the bombing, but the Taliban said it was not involved in the wedding explosion, according to a statement posted on its official website.

Both the Taliban and the Islamic State affiliate have a strong presence in eastern Afghanistan, and the IS group is headquartered in Nangarhar province.
The death toll of a suicide bombing during a wedding in Kabul, Afghanistan, four days ago, increases to 80.