Indo-Asian News Service, Kabul, Jan 29: At least 17 people were killed and 39 injured in a suicide attack at a funeral ceremony in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Laghman Thursday.
“Our latest figures show 17 people were killed and 39 others wounded in Thursday afternoon’s suicide bombing which took place in provincial capital Mehtarlam city, during a funeral ceremony,” Xinhua news agency quoted the provincial government as saying in a statement.
Those killed include 12 civilians, four police officials, including the head of the provincial criminal investigation department (CID) and the bomber, according to the statement.
The injured included 36 civilians and three policemen. Two wounded children remained in critical condition, the statement added.
It was the funeral of a police officer named Sayyeda Jan, who was killed along with three members of his family in a bomb attack earlier Thursday morning in Mehtarlam, it said.
The attack took place at around 3 p.m. in a suburb in Mehtarlam city.
Fazlullah Mujadidi, acting provincial governor, strongly condemned the incident. The statement blamed enemies of Afghanistan, a term referring to the Taliban insurgent group, for the attack.