KABUL:
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed to have carried out a deadly suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan Saturday that killed at least 33 people and injured more than 100, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said, in what, if verified, would be the first major attack claimed by the group in the country.
“Who claimed responsibility for horrific attack in Nangarhar today? The Taliban did not claim responsibility for the attack, Daesh (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack,” President Ghani said on a visit to Badakhshan.
A person purporting to be an IS spokesman claimed responsibility for the attack in a call to AFP and in an online posting, although the claims could not be immediately verified.
At least 33 people had been killed and 100 injured in a suicide bomb attack in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad, according to foreign media sources.
The blast happened outside a bank where government staff and military personnel were collecting their salaries, the region’s police chief said.
No group has said it carried out the attack, and a spokesman for the Taliban said it was not involved.
A foreign media agency’s correspondent Shahzheb Jillani in Kabul says it is the largest attack in Jalalabad in many months.
Children are said to be among the victims.
