Blast at Afghan voter registration center kills 12

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - An improvised explosive device (IED) blast in Afghanistan’s south-western Khost province on Sunday killed at least 12 people at voter registration center, officials said.

Abdul Hanan Zadran, deputy chief for the police in Khost, told Anadolu Agency the incident took place in the Yaqubi Mosque being used as voter registration center in the Khost city.

He said 12 people, all of them civilians, were killed and 31 others wounded in the attack.

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.

The incident is the latest in a string of attacks against Afghanistan's voter registration process.

On April 22, Daesh claimed responsibility for a deadly suicide attack on a similar voter registration center in the capital Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood, killing 30 people.

Last month, President Ashraf Ghani said this is the right moment for the Taliban to commence political activities. “If they [Taliban] believe they have roots among the people in Afghanistan then election is a chance”, he said, adding Afghans would decide about the fate of the Taliban as a political party.

Rejecting Ghani’s call, the Taliban have warned Afghans against the registration.

The long-due district and parliamentary elections are scheduled for Oct. 20. Over 7,000 polling centers have been established across the country, however, nearly 1,000 of these centers are located in areas out of government’s control.