News - Afghanistan

A suicide bomber blew himself up at a shrine in Kabul on Tuesday killing 58 people who had gathered to mourn Ashura, local officials said.

Nearly 164 people were wounded, according to officials.

The suicide attack occurred at Abul Fazl shrine near the Presidential Palace at 11.45 am, Mohammad Zahir, head of the Criminal Investigation Department of Kabul said.

Eyewitnesses said they heard a blast in the area and that many people were injured.

Some ambulances also arrived in the area to help the injured ones.

Afghan security forces arrived in the area shortly after the attack.

Ashura ceremony is held every year to mark the martyrdom of Imam Hussain.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai by expressing his condolences condemned the "the terrorist attack which killed innocent civilians," the President's Office said in a statement.

No group including the Taliban has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The Taliban in a statement condemned the incident and said it was not behind it.

It comes as the second blast took place in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif near a police station at around noon, killing four people.

A district police official in Mazar said the dead included at least one district police official. The bomb, which was carried on a bicycle, exploded near a mosque.

Meanwhile, another blast took place in Kandahar city in southern Afghanistan, wounding 6 people, local officials said.

The incident happened in a motorcycle parking lot, officials added.

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