A suicide bomber targeting an Afghan government official at a funeral Tuesday killed at least 20 people and wounded dozens more in the east of the country near the Pakistan border, officials said. Police and the interior ministry put the death toll at 20, but a spokesman for the Nangarhar provincial government said as many as 25 people had been killed in the remote Dur Baba district.
The target was the district governor, who was wounded, and officials said there were fears that the toll could rise further.
“The suicide attack killed 20 people and wounded around 50, including the district governor. Some wounded people are in critical condition, the toll might rise,” interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told AFP.
Provincial government spokesman Ahmad Zia Abdulzai said the bomber was on foot and killed 25 people, including a son of the district governor.