Many dead in Afghanistan bombing

[Paragon]

Many dead in Afghanistan bombing

 

Prominent opposition MP Mustafa Kazimi was among the dead

 

More than 80 people have been killed or wounded in a suicide bombing in northern Afghanistan, officials say.

 

At least six members of the Afghan parliament were killed in the blast in the town of Baghlan. Other MPs are said to have been hurt.

 

The exact number of deaths is unclear, but the attack is one of the worst since the fall of the Taleban in 2001.

 

Violence has spread in Afghanistan, where thousands of troops are battling the Taleban and their allies.

 

President Hamid Karzai has condemned the bombing in the "strongest terms possible".

 

Bodies

 

The bomb exploded at a sugar factory in the centre of Baghlan town while a delegation of parliamentarians was visiting.

 

 

 

Among the MPs killed was Mustafa Kazimi, a prominent opposition figure, a municipal official told the BBC. In addition to the six politicians confirmed dead, several more were injured.

 

Witnesses spoke of bodies littering the scene of the attack. They also described seeing the bomber just before he struck in the centre of the crowd - holding a bomb in one hand, and with an explosives belt around his chest.

 

The identity of the bomber is unknown.

 

Casualty figures varied considerably in the immediate aftermath of the bomb, but the director of Baghlan hospital told Reuters news agency 90 bodies had been brought in.

 

Taleban denial

 

Children were among the casualties, presidential spokesman Homayun Hamidzada told news agency AFP.

 

He said President Karzai "condemned this attack in the strongest terms possible".

 

"This is the act of the enemies of the people of Afghanistan," Mr Hamidzada said.

 

However, a spokesman for the Taleban, who are assumed to be behind most attacks in Afghanistan, condemned the attack in a telephone interview with the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press.

 

"The Baghlan explosion was not conducted by the Taleban," the agency quoted spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying.

 

In a separate development, the Taleban have captured an important town in the central province of Day Kundi - the third district they have taken in a week, along with two in western Farah province.

 

On Monday night, 60 Taleban on motorbikes and pick-up trucks rode into town, driving out the police and cutting off the main road.

 

But the BBC's Alix Kroeger in Kabul says they may not hold their new possessions for long - as their typical pattern is to mount an offensive, capture a centre and then retreat when police and the army counter-attack.

 

Violence

 

Until now, most suicide attacks have taken place in the south and east of Afghanistan or, less frequently, in Kabul.

 

But the United Nations says the number of suicide attacks is rising sharply, and insurgent violence has also been on the rise in areas of central and even northern Afghanistan which were previously relatively peaceful.

 

The Taleban have not traditionally been active in Baghlan province, although they are known to be broadening their attacks across the country, says the BBC analyst Pam O'Toole.

 

Fighters loyal to Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, a former mujahideen leader who is fighting the Kabul government independently from the Taleban, are known to be active in Baghlan, she says.