Afghanistan Suicide Bomb In Jalalabad Leaves Many Dead

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At least 33 people have been killed and 100 injured in a suicide bomb attack in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad. The blast happened outside a bank where government staff and military personnel were collecting their salaries. BBC has more:

A spokesman for a group claiming to represent Islamic State in Afghanistan said it carried out the attack, though the BBC cannot verify the claim. The BBC’s Shahzheb Jillani in Kabul says it is the largest attack in Jalalabad in many months.

Children are said to be among the victims. Afghanistan’s President, Ashraf Ghani, called it a “cowardly and heinous terrorist act”.  One eyewitness, Jaweed Khan, said: “I saw many people, dead bodies and injured people on the ground. “Ambulances arrived very late, and many people died of their wounds.”

Police said another bomb was discovered nearby, and was destroyed in a controlled explosion. Another blast was also reported outside a shrine in Jalalabad on Saturday morning. There are no reported casualties.