Blog Briefing Room

Suicide attack at Afghanistan voter center kills dozens

A suicide bombing at a voter registration center in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, left at least 57 people dead and 119 people injured, the BBC reported.

The attacker detonated the bomb at a voter center where Afghan authorities were handing out national identity cards in their effort to register more people to vote.

Shortly after the Taliban said it was not behind the attack, the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) claimed responsibility.

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Even though ISIS’s presence in Afghanistan has largely been reduced by airstrikes and covert military operations, the group continues to claim deadly attacks in urban areas.

The suicide bombing is the fourth attack on voter centers since voter registration for October’s long-delayed parliamentary elections began a week ago.

Some worry that the attack could lead the public — who are already concerned for safety at polling stations and weary of voting because of past fraudulent elections — to not turn out in October.

The attack was Kabul’s deadliest since an ambulance bomb killed more than 100 people in January.