Kabul Suicide Bombing Widely Condemned

The deadly attack on a religious gathering in Kabul, which killed at least 50 people and injured scores others on Tuesday, has drawn wide condemnation.

In a statement, President Ashraf Ghani described the attack as “unforgivable and a clear act of hostility against Islam’s teaching.” Ghani declared Wednesday a national day of mourning and ordered that flags be flown at half-staff.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned the attack and called it “a clear violation of international humanitarian law”. He said, “every effort should be made to bring perpetrators to justice”.

In a separate statement, the UN Security Council also slammed the attack and reaffirmed that terrorism in all its forms and manifestations constitutes one of the most serious threats to international peace and security.

U.S. Department of State spokesperson Heather Nauert said in a statement that the U.S. is committed to peace in Afghanistan.

“The United States strongly condemns the attack in Kabul today at a religious gathering,” Nauert said on Tuesday. “The United States remains committed to peace and stability in Afghanistan, and stands by the people of Afghanistan who want peace and a future free from these horrific acts of violence.”

Referring to the attack in Kabul, the European Union spokesperson said in a statement that “to attack those who pray or worship in peace is an attack on all of us, religious or not, who value freedom”.

“Together, we stand united against terrorism,” the statement further said,” At next week’s Conference on Afghanistan, hosted by the United Nations in Geneva, the whole international community must re-commit to a peaceful, prosperous Afghanistan.”

Iranian Foreign Ministry Spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said: “the hidden hands behind these cowardly terrorist operations have had no other goal but to provoke ethnic, sectarian and religious sedition”.

Responding to the deadly attack, the Amnesty International called it horrific.

“Any attack in which civilians are deliberately targeted constitutes a war crime under international law, yet those killed in Kabul today will merely become another statistic,” said Omar Waraich, Amnesty International Deputy South Asia Director.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack yet.