Carnage at Afghan wedding kills scores

KABUL-Anadolu Agency

Authorities in Afghanistan on Aug. 18 confirmed over 60 people were killed and nearly 200 injured in late last night's suicide attack at a wedding in the capital Kabul.

Interior Ministry spokesman Nusrat Rahimi told Anadolu Agency the suicide bombing at the Dubai City wedding hall on Darul Aman road has caused havoc. He confirmed women and children are among the victims, most of whom were civilians attending an ethnic Shia Hazara community wedding party.

Amid raging conflict across the country, traditional wedding parties have been an escape for the war-weary Afghans giving them some rare moments of happiness.

Footage circulating on social media showed bodies littered around the wedding hall and guests running for their lives.

The onslaught has been widely and vehemently condemned by the Afghan government and its international partners.

The Taliban insurgents quickly denied their involvement in the attack.

Many of the victims were laid to rest in joint graves on Aug. 18 morning amid tragic scenes.

The attack has been orchestrated a year after an identical ISIL-claimed suicide bombing killed 48 high school students of the same Shia Hazara community at an academic institution in Kabul.

Neighboring Pakistan extended condolences to the Afghan people following the attack.

"We express our heartfelt condolences to the families of innocent victims and pray for the maghfirah [forgiveness] of the deceased and for early recovery of many others who were seriously injured in the attack," Mohammad Faisal, spokesman of Pakistan's Foreign Ministry, said in a statement.