Joy turns to horror as IS bomber kills 63 at Kabul wedding

A day of Joy and celebration was turned to sorrow and mourning when an Islamic State suicide bomber targeted a packed Afghan wedding hall in West Kabul, killing at least 63 people.

The groom identified as Mirwais told Tolo News that the attack “changed my happiness to sorrow”.

He recalled greeting his smiling guests just before the attack and their bodies being carried out hours later .

“My family, my bride are in shock, they cannot even speak. My bride keeps fainting.”
“I lost my brother, I lost my friends, I lost my relatives. I will never see happiness in my life again,” he said .

Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi who confirmed the attack said a suicide bomber carried out the attack, with at least 63 people killed and 182 injured.

“Among the wounded are women and children,” he said.

A guest identified as Munir Ahmad,23, whose cousin was among the dead and who also sustained serious injury, told newsmen that, “The wedding guests were dancing and celebrating the party when the blast happened.”

“Following the explosion, there was total chaos. Everyone was screaming and crying for their loved ones,” he said from his bed in a local hospital, where he was being treated for shrapnel wounds.

Another guest who gave his name as Hameed Quresh told newsmen that the young bride and groom were saying their vows when the bomb went off.

“We fainted following the blast, and we don’t know who brought us to the hospital,” sobbed Quresh, who lost one brother and was himself wounded.

The Sunni extremist group’s Afghan affiliate has since claimed responsibility for the blast.

According to the group, the wedding was attacked because the guests were mostly Shia Muslims .

In their reactions, President Ashraf Ghani called it “barbaric”, while Afghanistan’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah described it as a “crime against humanity”