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SHARANA (Pajhwok): At least 16 people were killed and nearly two dozens wounded on Sunday when a suicide bomber detonated his explosive vest in the middle of a crowd watching a volleyball match in southeastern Paktika province.
The blast took place in Segana area of Khairkot district in the afternoon, said one resident, Aman Katawazai. He had no exact figures for casualties and said they were busy removing those killed and wounded.
Another eyewitness, Shahid Bhawal, said the blast took place at a time when the number of people watching the volleyball match increased.
“A suicide bomber who was on foot detonated his explosives on the volleyball ground. I have information about eight deaths and injuries to another 25. The death toll might be higher,” he said.
Shehzad, who slightly injured in the blast, told Pajhwok Afghan News it was a remotely-controlled blast caused by explosives planted on a motorcycle. The bomb exploded after more people joined the spectators, he said. He put the death toll at 16, a majority of them children. Another 22 people injured in the blast had been shifted to a mosque in the area, Shehzad said.
Security officials in Paktika have not spoken to the media about the incident. But a security official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said some intelligence officials were among the spectators.
He said one intelligence official was killed and another three wounded in the blast. He said at least 10 people, including six children, were killed and dozens more were wounded.
Some of the wounded people were shifted to the civil hospital in Sharana, the provincial capital, and those critically wounded were airlifted by Ministry of Defence helicopters to Kabul.
However, a former member of the provincial council, Abdul Ghani Paktin, said 20 people had been killed and 60 others wounded in the incident.
The Ministry of Interior said nine civilians had been killed and 33 more wounded in the incident.
A similar attack last year in the Yahyakhel district at a volleyball match killed 45 people and wounded at least 50 more.
Today there was another suicide attack in the Yahyakhel district targeting the town’s administrative chief, but information about casualties could not be ascertained.
The Sunday’s blast took place in Segani village of Khairkot district, about two kilometers from Yahyakhel.
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