"VAN" (International Desk) :: The Afghan government has postponed celebrations to commemorate the 100th Independence Day of Afghanistan which was scheduled for Monday in the historic Dar-ul-Aman Palace.
Presidential spokesperson Sediq Sediqqi said the Secretariat tasked to organize the 100th Independence Celebrations of Afghanistan has postponed the event as per President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani’s instructions in a bid to pay respect to families of last night attack’s victims in Kabul.
Sediqqi further added that that the President will deliver a speech and lay wreath in Independence Minaret to honor the 100th Independence Day of Afghanistan and pay tribute to the martyrs of the freedom.
This comes as a suicide bomber targeted a wedding ceremony in West of Kabul city late on Saturday night killing or wounding hundreds of people.
Nasrat Rahimi, a spokesman for the Ministry of Interior said the explosion took place at around 10:40 pm local time inside Hotel Shahr-e Dubai in 6th district of the city.
Rahimi further added that a suicide bomber detonated his explosives among the guests of a wedding.
According to security officials, the attack killed 63 people and wounded at least 182 others.
UN reacts to deadly wedding hall attack in Kabul which targeted a Shia wedding ceremony
The United Nations condemned the deadly bombing which targeted a wedding hall in West of Kabul city leaving at least 63 people dead.
The United Nations Assistance Mission said in a statement “On the evening of 17 August, a suicide attacker detonated explosives in the Shahr-e-Dubai Wedding Hall in West Kabul where approximately 1,000 people were gathered for a Shia wedding ceremony.”
The statement further added that UNAMA’s human rights team is looking into the incident and working to establish facts.
Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan said “An attack deliberately targeting civilians is an outrage, and deeply troubling, as it can only be described as a cowardly act of terror.”
Yamamoto further added “I condemn these deliberate attacks on civilians that signal a deliberate intent to spread fear among the population, which has already suffered too much.”
The wedding hall where the attack took place is situated in an area of the city heavily populated by Afghanistan’s Shia Muslim minority, UNAMA said, adding that it has documented several previous attacks deliberately carried out against this community.
“The pace of such atrocious attacks indicates that current measures in place to protect must be strengthened, and that those who have organized and enabled such attacks must be brought to justice and held to account,” said Yamamoto, who is also head of UNAMA.He also added “The United Nations stands with all Afghans in solidarity and remains committed to an Afghan-led peace process that will end the war and bring about a lasting peace.”
Credit :: KHAAMA
Responses
Leave your comment