Afghanistan: 62 dead, 33 injured in suicide blast at Nangarhar Mosque

Two bomb blasts took place in Nangarhar province, Afghanistan on October 18 and killed nearly 62 people along and injured at least 33. These suicide blasts took place inside a mosque during the Friday prayers at around 2 pm in the Jaw Dara area of the Haska Meyna district of the country. A local news agency reported an official claiming that the death toll is expected to escalate while the wounded have been admitted to the nearby hospitals. However, until now, no group has come forward to claim the responsibility of the attack. 

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The previous attack killed two police officials

The blast came two days after the Taliban group claimed the responsibility for a suicide bombing near the police headquarters which also claimed the lives of two officials of Afghan Security Forces and injuring 26 citizens of the eastern province of Laghman in the war-torn country. Moreover, Afghani President, Ghani has also condemned the bombings and even said that since the “terrorists” can not face the security forces on the battlefield, the terrorist groups are targetting Afghan civilians. 

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Civilian casualties have spiked

An Afghan news agency reported that according to a United Nations Assistance Mission report, in just the first nine months of 2019, the organization has documented the death of 2,563 civilians along with 5,676 wounded people which is fairly similar to the count of 2018 however, in the third quarter of this year, there was an unusual spike in civilian casualties with 1,174 deaths and injury of 3,139 which according to the UNAMA, it is the highest number of deaths since it started documentation in 2009. 

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There is a 42 percent increase from that of the previous year. In addition to that, the month of July has witnessed the highest number of casualties that have ever been recorded in a single month. According to the UNAMA report, the reason for the increase in a number of victims is because of aerial and search operations that have been taken by the pro-government forces along with insurgent groups. 41 percent of all the casualties that have occurred in this month are women and children

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(With input from agencies)