Kabul bombing

This item appears on page 18 of the May 2018 issue.

A suspected suicide bombing on March 21 in Kabul, Afghanistan, killed at least 31 people and injured more than 60. The bombing occurred at the Sahki shrine during Nowruz, a New Year festival. The Islamist militant group Daesh (ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack.

The shrine, one of the largest shrines in Afghanistan, is popular with Shia Muslims (Daesh is a Sunni group) and has been targeted two times in the past. In October 2016, at least 14 people were killed by a Daesh bomber, and a bombing at the shrine in 2011 killed 59.