Two Afghan journalists among 20 dead in Kabul blasts

An injured man is brought in to a hospital following a deadly attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday, Sept. 5, 2018. Twin bombings at a wrestling training center in a Shiite neighborhood of Afghanistan's capital on Wednesday killed at least 20 people and wounded others, Afghan officials said. (AP Photo/Rahmat Gul)
Updated 06 September 2018
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Two Afghan journalists among 20 dead in Kabul blasts

KABUL: Twin blasts in the Afghan capital killed at least 20 people, including two local journalists on Wednesday, officials and journalists reported.

The first attack was conducted by a suicide bomber and targeted a wrestling gym in an area of Dashte Barchi, a Shia-dominated part of the city where spectators had converged to watch a competition.

Most of the casualties were caused in that attack, interior ministry officials said.

Nasrat Rahimi, a ministry spokesman, said that more than 70 people were wounded in the first event.

As officials and residents dealt with the evacuation of casualties, a car bomb went off a little distance way, killing two journalists and wounding five more, Mujib Khelwatgar, an official with a media group, told reporters.

The private Tolo News said that the two dead journalists belonged to its station.

Wednesday’s attacks resembled one conducted months ago outside an intelligence agency in Kabul where journalists covering the first attack fell victim to the second blast. Eight journalists were killed.

In Wednesday’s first attack, the bomber shot dead a guard at the gym before entering the facility where scores of spectators had gathered to watch a match, Rahimi said.

The attacks come weeks after a suicide bomber targeted an educational center, killing nearly 50 underage students. Affiliates of Daesh have claimed responsibility for all of the attacks, which have targeted Shiites in recent years in Afghanistan.


Attacks leave 30 dead in Nigeria’s Benue state

Updated 6 sec ago
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Attacks leave 30 dead in Nigeria’s Benue state

JOS: Two attacks in the space of a few days left 30 people dead in two neighboring towns in Nigeria’s central state of Benue, long prone to inter-communal clashes, sources told AFP.
Armed bandits killed at least 13 traders on Friday afternoon in Anwase, a village in the Kwande area, local government official Ibi Andrew told AFP.
He said the assailants stormed the market “and opened fire on the people randomly.”
“The attack left traders and residents traumatized, with properties destroyed and families searching for missing loved ones.”
On Tuesday, armed men had attacked the market in nearby Mbaikyor, killing 17 people, including a police officer, according to two residents and local media.
The region has seen an upsurge of violence in recent months between Muslim ethnic Fulani herders and mainly Christian farmers over control of land and resources.
Though generally presented as communal clashes, the unrest stems from complex dynamics with land rivalries exacerbated by climate change, a proliferation of small arms and the lack of a sustainable response from the Nigerian state.