Afghan Worshippers Killed In Sectarian Attack in Kabul

KABUL – At least 14 people have been killed when a suicide bomber attacked a packed religious shrine in Kabul on one of the most important days in the Shiite religious calendar. Witnesses said the bomber carried a backpack full of explosives into the crowd of worshippers outside the Abul Fazl shrine before detonating the device yesterday. The shrine was packed with Shiite worshippers who had gathered for Ashura, the Shiite Muslim holiday marking the death of Hussein ibnAli, the grandson of the prophet Muhammad. Kabul police said 48 people had died in the attack. A police officer at the festival said hundreds of pilgrims were standing shoulder to shoulder before the blast. One witness, Rohullah, 21, who saw the explosion from a nearby rooftop, said it had sent bodies and limbs flying into the air. A spokesman for the Health Ministry said 14 people, including two women and a child, had been killed and 105 others wounded. Mustafa, a shopkeeper who witnessed the blast, said he and his mother were delivering food to the worshipper when the bomb went off. “It was very loud. My ears went deaf, and I was blown three meters,” said Mustafa, who uses only one name. “There was smoke and red blood on the floor of the shrine. There were people lying everywhere.” Stunned and tearful locals milled around the scene of the attack as loudspeakers still played recorded verses of the Quran. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for what is believed to be the worst sectarian attack in Afghanistan’s recent history. Although such attacks have become commonplace in neighboring Pakistan and parts of the Middle East such as Iraq, they have not occurred in Afghanistan. Mohammad Bakir Shaikzada, the top Shiite cleric in Kabul, said he could not remember a similar attack having taken place.