25 killed, 49 wounded as twin suicide attacks hit capital

KABUL (Pajhwok): Twin suicide bombings in a high-security neighbourhood of Kabul left 25 people, including journalists, dead and 49 others wounded, police said.

Two journalists, an AFP photographer and a cameraman for a Kabul-based private TV channel, were among the fatalities, a Kabul police spokesman said.

Hashmat Stanikzai told Pajhwok Afghan News that the first suicide bomber on a motorbike struck near National Directorate of Security (NDS) office in the Shashdarak area of the capital.

Posing as a reporter, the second assailant joined journalists who rushed to the scene of the first suicide attack. The attacker then detonated his explosives among the reporters, the police spokesman said.

Dr. Wahid Majrooh, spokesman for the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), earlier put the death toll at 21 dead and 40 injured. The casualties were evacuated to Kabul hospitals.

He said a number of injured were in critical condition. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blasts, but government officials often blame Taliban and Daesh fighters for such attacks.

A security official, who did not want to be named, said a dozen of people were killed in the second suicide bombing. At least two journalists were confirmed dead.

The NATO headquarters and several embassies are located in Shashdarak locality, which was sealed off. A number of the injured are said to be in critical condition.

sa/mud