This archive report was first published on 18 August 2019.
On August 17, 2019, a packed Afghan wedding hall in west Kabul was targeted by a suicide bomber, leaving at least 63 people dead and 182 injured in the deadliest attack to rock the city in months.
The massive blast occurred late Saturday, as Washington and the Taliban finalised a deal to reduce the US military presence in Afghanistan and potentially build a roadmap to a ceasefire.
According to Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi, the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber, and among the wounded are women and children.
Images from inside the hall showed blood-stained bodies on the ground, along with pieces of flesh and torn clothes, hats, sandals, and bottles of mineral water.
The wedding was believed to be a Shia gathering, and Shia Muslims are frequently targeted in Sunni-majority Afghanistan, particularly by the so-called Islamic State group.
President Ashraf Ghani called the attack 'barbaric', while Afghanistan's chief executive Abdullah Abdullah described it as a 'crime against humanity'. The attack underscores the inadequacy of Afghanistan's security forces and the scale of the problem they face.
On July 28, at least 20 people were killed when attackers targeted Ghani's running mate Amrullah Saleh as he campaigned in presidential elections.
