AYBAK, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber struck a crowded wedding in northern Afghanistan on Saturday, killing at least 19 people, including a prominent Afghan lawmaker who was celebrating the marriage of his daughter, Afghan officials said.
[h=6]Reuters[/h]Ahmad Khan Samangani speaking in Parliament in an undated photo.
The lawmaker, Ahmad Khan Samangani, was a leading member of Afghanistan’s Uzbek ethnic group. He first rose to prominence fighting the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan in the 1990s and was elected to Parliament last year from Samangan Province, where Saturday’s bombing took place.
Some officials quickly said they suspected Saturday’s attack was the work of the Taliban, which has used suicide bombers to assassinate a number of prominent Afghans in recent years. The insurgents’ targets have included politicians from Afghan’s smaller ethnic groups — Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras — and from the Pashtuns, the group that includes President Hamid Karzai and from which almost all the Taliban are drawn.
But the insurgents, who often take credit for successful assassinations, denied any role in Saturday’s bombing — an unusual step given the dead lawmaker’s fierce anti-Taliban credentials.
Gen. Mohammad Khalil Andarabi, the police chief of Samangan, said the bomber arrived at the wedding hall in the early hours of the morning.
The wedding was being held in Aybak, the capital of Samangan. The bomber appeared to have entered the wedding hall with a group of politicians and prominent Afghans from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of neighboring Balkh Province, and then detonated his explosives as Mr. Samangani was greeting the guests, Mr. Andarabi said.
The police chief could not say if the bomber had traveled with the guests from Mazar-i-Sharif or simply slipped in among them as they entered the wedding hall.
The blast was powerful, according to the police chief and witnesses. The death toll stood at 19 around noon on Saturday, with another 50 people wounded. Some of the wounded were in serious condition, said Mr. Andarabi, and the death toll could rise.
Mohammad Nawab Sherzai, the criminal investigations director in Aybak who was helping provide security for the wedding, said most of the guests had already moved to the upper floors of the hall when the explosion occurred.
“It was a big explosion. There were bloody bodies all around the first floor. The explosion was so strong. There were people even on the third floor who were wounded,” Mr. Sherzai was quoted as saying in a report by The Associated Press.
“Everybody was running in different directions. For about 10 minutes, nobody knew what was happening,” he said. “There was dark smoke all around. After about 10 minutes, the people were able to see the bodies and start helping with the wounded.”
Enayat Najafizada reported from Aybak and Matthew Rosenberg from Kabul, Afghanistan.
[h=6]Reuters[/h]Ahmad Khan Samangani speaking in Parliament in an undated photo.
The lawmaker, Ahmad Khan Samangani, was a leading member of Afghanistan’s Uzbek ethnic group. He first rose to prominence fighting the Soviet Union’s occupation of Afghanistan in the 1990s and was elected to Parliament last year from Samangan Province, where Saturday’s bombing took place.
Some officials quickly said they suspected Saturday’s attack was the work of the Taliban, which has used suicide bombers to assassinate a number of prominent Afghans in recent years. The insurgents’ targets have included politicians from Afghan’s smaller ethnic groups — Uzbeks, Tajiks and Hazaras — and from the Pashtuns, the group that includes President Hamid Karzai and from which almost all the Taliban are drawn.
But the insurgents, who often take credit for successful assassinations, denied any role in Saturday’s bombing — an unusual step given the dead lawmaker’s fierce anti-Taliban credentials.
Gen. Mohammad Khalil Andarabi, the police chief of Samangan, said the bomber arrived at the wedding hall in the early hours of the morning.
The wedding was being held in Aybak, the capital of Samangan. The bomber appeared to have entered the wedding hall with a group of politicians and prominent Afghans from the city of Mazar-i-Sharif, the capital of neighboring Balkh Province, and then detonated his explosives as Mr. Samangani was greeting the guests, Mr. Andarabi said.
The police chief could not say if the bomber had traveled with the guests from Mazar-i-Sharif or simply slipped in among them as they entered the wedding hall.
The blast was powerful, according to the police chief and witnesses. The death toll stood at 19 around noon on Saturday, with another 50 people wounded. Some of the wounded were in serious condition, said Mr. Andarabi, and the death toll could rise.
Mohammad Nawab Sherzai, the criminal investigations director in Aybak who was helping provide security for the wedding, said most of the guests had already moved to the upper floors of the hall when the explosion occurred.
“It was a big explosion. There were bloody bodies all around the first floor. The explosion was so strong. There were people even on the third floor who were wounded,” Mr. Sherzai was quoted as saying in a report by The Associated Press.
“Everybody was running in different directions. For about 10 minutes, nobody knew what was happening,” he said. “There was dark smoke all around. After about 10 minutes, the people were able to see the bodies and start helping with the wounded.”
Enayat Najafizada reported from Aybak and Matthew Rosenberg from Kabul, Afghanistan.