63 killed, 182 injured in explosion at wedding in Kabul

Kabul: A suicide bomber killed 63 people and wounded 182 in an attack on a wedding reception in the Afghan capital on Saturday night, the interior ministry said.

The Taliban denied responsibility for the blast at a west Kabul wedding hall, in a minority Shi’ite neighbourhood, packed with people celebrating a marriage.

The attack came as the Taliban and the United States are trying to negotiate an agreement on the withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan in exchange for a Taliban commitment on security and peace talks with the US-backed government.

It follows a bomb attack on a mosque in Pakistan on Friday that killed a brother of Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada. No one claimed responsibility for that blast, which killed four people and wounded about 20.

Pictures posted on social media showed bodies strewn amid overturned table and chairs at the wedding hall. The bomber struck the men’s reception area, officials said.