A suicide bomber blew himself up at a shrine in Kabul on Tuesday killing 48 people who had gathered to mourn Ashura, local officials said.
More than 100 people were wounded, according to officials.
The suicide attack occurred at Abul Fazl shrine near the Presidential Palace at 11.45 am, Mohammad Zahir, head of the Criminal Investigation Department of Kabul said.
Eyewitnesses said they heard a blast in the area and that many people were injured.
Some ambulances also arrived in the area to help the injured ones.
Afghan security forces arrived in the area shortly after the attack.
Ashura ceremony is held every year to mark the martyrdom of Imam Hussain.
It comes as the second blast took place in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif near a police station at around noon, killing four people.
A district police official in Mazar said the dead included at least one district police official. The bomb, which was carried on a bicycle, exploded near a mosque.
Meanwhile, another blast took place in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, wounding 6 people, local officials said.
The incident happened in a motorcycle parking lot, officials added.
by TOLONEWS
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from FOXNEWS:
Mohammad Bakir Shaikzada, the top Shiite cleric in Kabul, said that it was the first time that Shiites have been attacked in decades. He said he could not remember a similar attack having taken place,
"This is a crime against Muslims during the holy day of Ashoura. We Muslims will never forget these attacks. It is the enemy of the Muslims who are carrying them out," he said. He did not know who could have carried out such an attack.
Mustafa, a shopkeeper who witnessed the blast in Kabul, said he and his mother were delivering food to the worshippers. Two groups of 150 to 200 people from Kabul had just prayed at the shrine and left.
Another group of more than 100 from Logar province was entering when the explosion occurred. He said a suicide bomber at the end of the line of worshippers from Logar blew himself up near one of the gates to the shrine.
"It was very loud. My ears went deaf and I was blown 3 meters (yards)," said Mustafa, who uses only one name. "There was smoke and red blood on the floor of the shrine. There were people lying everywhere."
The shrine's loudspeaker continued to blast a recitation of the Quran as ambulances carried bodies and wounded away. Women stood outside the shrine wailing and holding crying children.
The mosque had been packed with worshippers and a large crowd that could not fit inside were gathered outside the building. The bomber walked into this crowd and detonated his explosives, said witness Mohammad Sharif.
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| An Afghan National Army soldier disperses the crowd after a suicide attack at a Shi'ite Muslim gathering in Kabul December 6, 2011. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani |
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| An Afghan woman mourns after a suicide attack at a Shi'ite Muslim gathering in Kabul December 6, 2011. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani |
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| ***GRAPHIC IMAGE!*** People help clear casualties from the site of a suicide attack at a Shi'ite Muslim gathering in Kabul December 6, 2011. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani |
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| Policemen survey the site of a bomb explosion in Karachi December 6, 2011. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro |
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| Policemen and paramilitary soldiers survey the site of a bomb explosion in Karachi December 6, 2011. REUTERS/Akhtar Soomro |
UPDATE:
NYT reporter: "Pakistani militant group of Sepah-e-Sahaba (called Lashkar jangawi ) claims responsibility of Kabul blast"
video: moment of the blast on CNN
Washington Time
Kabul Time
London Time
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