| MP among 16 killed in Afghan suicide attack |
MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Afghanistan) A suicide bomber killed a prominent Afghan lawmaker and 16 others at his daughter’s wedding party in the north of the country on Saturday, officials said.
The attacker embraced MP Ahmad Khan, a former militia commander, in front of wedding guests before detonating the explosives strapped around his waist, a security forces spokesman said.
President Hamid Karzai’s office said 17 people were killed and around 43 wounded, in the attack in Aybak, capital of Samangan province.
Provincial intelligence chief Mohammad Khan was among those killed at the celebration attended by other high-ranking government officials.
The statement blamed the “terrorist” attack on the “enemies of Afghanistan”, a term used by Afghan officials to refer to the Taliban.
Karzai also appointed a team to probe the attack.
An ethnic Uzbek, Khan was a militia commander during the decades of conflict in Afghanistan.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Zabiullah Mujahid, a purported Taliban spokesman, said that he was “unaware” of an attack by the militant group in northern Afghanistan.
The attacker apparently disguised himself as a guest and blew himself up at the entrance of the hall, where high-ranking local officials were welcoming guests.
The attack in Samangan suggests an emboldened Taliban insurgency spreading to the north from the south and east, where they traditionally hold sway.
Agence France-Presse
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