Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned Monday’s suicide bomb attack outside a peace tent gathering of Muslim clerics in Kabul and backed their fatwa against suicide attacks, saying they violated the tenets of Islam.
The attack occurred near the main entrance to a large tented compound in the Afghan capital, where about 2,000 Muslim clerics had assembled to deliberate on the war and attacks by the Taliban and ISIS, which are battling the Afghan government as well as US and allied troops.
The bomb killed 14 people, including seven clerics, and was the latest in a series of attacks that have underlined the deteriorating security ahead of parliamentary and district council elections set for Oct. 20.
“The attack that targeted the large gathering of clerics and religious scholars from across the country was, in fact, an attack against the heirs of the prophet of Islam and the values of Islam,” Ghani said in a video address, supporting the outlawing of suicide bombings.
“Unfortunately, the imposed war in Afghanistan every day takes lives of our innocent children.”
The ISIS terrorist group, without providing evidence, claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Taliban denied involvement, but blamed the “American process”.
Religious scholars from across the country met on Sunday and Monday at the Loya Jirga (Grand Council) tent, denouncing years of conflict. They issued an unprecedented religious edict that said the insurgency in Afghanistan has no religious basis. It also declared that suicide attacks, often used by Taliban and ISIS insurgents, are “haram,” or forbidden by Islam, calling on Afghan government forces and militant groups to halt the fighting, agree on a cease-fire and hold peace talks. It was the first time in 17 years of conflict that the nation’s senior Muslim clerics have made such an appeal.
Police said seven of the victims were clerics who had been invited from various parts of Afghanistan by Ghani’s government, which has been seeking ways to make peace with the Taliban with the strong support of the US government and Western donors.
Many people at the meeting had left the tent by the time the bomber detonated his explosives, reducing the potential number of casualties.
The blast occurred after several months of frequent bombings and other attacks, in Kabul and elsewhere in the country. The insurgents have targeted mosques, government ministries, voter identification offices, charities, hotels and police stations.
A series of bombings in Kabul has killed dozens of people in recent months and shown no sign of easing during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
There was an explosion near a girls’ school in the eastern province of Nangarhar early on Tuesday but no one was hurt, a provincial education official said. The school had announced two days off after receiving threats.
Spreading violence by Taliban and other militant groups has forced many schools to close, undermining fragile gains in education for girls in a country where millions have never set foot in a classroom.
Nearly half all children in Afghanistan are out of school due to conflict, poverty, child marriage and discrimination against girls, the number rising for the first time since 2002, humanitarian organizations said in a report on Sunday.
