On 17 August 2019, a

suicide bombing A suicide attack (also known by a wide variety of other names, see below) is a deliberate attack in which the perpetrators knowingly sacrifice their own lives as part of the attack. These attacks are a form of murder–suicide that is ofte ...

took place during a wedding in a wedding hall in

Kabul Kabul is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province. The city is divided for administration into #Districts, 22 municipal districts. A ...

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. It is bordered by Pakistan to the Durand Line, east and south, Iran to the Afghanistan–Iran borde ...

. At least 92 people were killed in the attack and over 140 injured. The

Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant The Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) and Daesh, is a transnational Salafi jihadist organization and unrecognized quasi-state. IS occupied signi ...

claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating that the attack targeted the

Shi'ites Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

. More than 1,000 people were gathered for the wedding when the attack took place. The attack occurred a day before the 100th Afghan Independence Day, causing the government to postpone the planned celebrations taking place at the

Darul Aman Palace Darul Aman Palace (; ; 'Abode of Peace' or, in a double meaning, 'Abode of Aman llah) is a three-story palace located in Darulaman locality, about south-west of the center of Kabul, Afghanistan. Surrounding the palace are the following buildin ...

. It was the deadliest attack in Kabul since January 2018.

Attack

The suicide bombing occurred at approximately 10:40 p.m.

Afghanistan Time The time in Afghanistan follows a single standard time offset of UTC+04:30 (four and a half hours ahead of Coordinated Universal Time), even though the country spans almost two geographical time zones. The official national standard time is c ...

( UTC+04:30) in western Kabul, in an area heavily populated by the

Shia Shia Islam is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that Muhammad designated Ali ibn Abi Talib () as both his political successor (caliph) and as the spiritual leader of the Muslim community (imam). However, his right is understood ...

Hazara minority, inside the "Dubai City" wedding hall. The suicide bomber detonated the explosives in the men's section of the wedding hall, near the stage where musicians were playing, at a time when hundreds were inside the building for a wedding ceremony. The bomber detonated a suicide vest packed with

ball bearing A ball bearing is a type of rolling-element bearing that uses balls to maintain the separation between the bearing races. The purpose of a ball bearing is to reduce rotational friction and support radial and axial loads. It achieves this ...

s. The explosion occurred shortly before the wedding ceremony was supposed to start. According to the wedding hall's owner, more than 1,200 people had been invited to the event, with a mixed group of Shi'ites and

Sunnis Sunni Islam is the largest Islamic schools and branches, branch of Islam and the largest religious denomination in the world. It holds that Muhammad did not appoint any Succession to Muhammad, successor and that his closest companion Abu Bakr ...

attending. Most of the attendees were ethnic

Hazaras The Hazaras (; ) are an ethnic group and a principal component of Afghanistan’s population. They are one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, primarily residing in the Hazaristan (Hazarajat) region in central Afghanistan. Hazaras al ...

. Both the bride and the groom were Shi'ite, and both from modest working class families, with the groom working as a tailor. Their families had discussed how to schedule the timing of the wedding to try to minimize the risk of an attack. At least 63 people were initially killed and 182 injured. While the bride and groom survived, both lost several family members. Many children were also among those killed. 17 more people succumbed to their injuries in the days after the attack, bringing the death toll to 80. The final death toll was put at 92.

Responsibility

The day after the attack, a local affiliate of the

(ISIL, also known as ISIS, the Islamic State, or Daesh) claimed responsibility for the attack. The statement of responsibility claimed that after the suicide bombing inside the wedding hall, a car bomb was also detonated outside as emergency vehicles were arriving. The follow-up car bombing has not been confirmed by the authorities. The

Taliban , leader1_title = Supreme Leader of Afghanistan, Supreme leaders , leader1_name = {{indented plainlist, * Mullah Omar{{Natural Causes{{nbsp(1994–2013) * Akhtar Mansour{{Assassinated (2015–2016) * Hibatullah Akhundzada (2016–present) ...

denied responsibility for the attack, with a spokesman stating that the Taliban "condemns he bombingin the strongest terms".

Reactions

Domestic

President of Afghanistan The president of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was constitutionally the head of state and head of government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan and Commander-in-Chief of the Afghan Armed Forces. Eligibility and selection process A ...

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan former politician and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was 2021 Taliban offensive, overthrown by the Ta ...

declared a day of mourning. He also stated that the Taliban can not fully escape blame for the attack either, saying that "The Taliban cannot absolve themselves of blame for they provide platform for terrorists." The Taliban denied responsibility for the attack and condemned it. The group's spokesperson

Zabiullah Mujahid Zabihullah Mujahid (; ''Ẕabīḥullāh Mujāhid'' ; also spelled Dhabih Allah Mujahid) is an Afghan spokesperson who has been the chief spokesman for the internationally unrecognized Taliban regime of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan since 25 O ...

said in a statement that the group "strongly condemns explosion targeting civilians inside a hotel in Kabul city," while also adding that "Such barbaric deliberate attacks against civilians including women and children are forbidden and unjustifiable."

References

External links