Suicide Bomber Kills 14 Afghan Clerics Who’d Just Outlawed Suicide Bombings

Motorcycle bomber hits gathering in western Kabul

On Monday, a gathering of Afghan religious scholars held in Loya Jirga meeting in western Kabul. The group denounced years of unrest in the country, and issued a fatwa formally outlawing suicide bombings.

Immediately thereafter, a suicide bomber on a motorcycle carried out an attack on the outside of the tent in which the jirga was gathering, killing 14 people, including a number of clerics who had been in attendance.

This is the latest in a growing series of attacks across Afghanistan, particularly in Kabul, in recent months. The attacks have been killing a large number of people, both government officials and civilian bystanders.

Officials say they are unsure who was behind the bombing, though the ISIS affiliate in Afghanistan did issue a statement claiming credit. ISIS has tended to do that whether they were involved or not, though so far they offered no evidence that this attack was theirs.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.