JALALABAD (Afghanistan): A suicide bomber killed at least 33 people and injured more than 100 others here on Saturday, setting off a blast outside a bank, the city’s police chief said.

President Ashraf Ghani said militants of the self-styled Islamic State (IS) group had claimed responsibility for the attack. “Who claimed responsibility for horrific attack in Nangarhar today? The Taliban did not claim responsibility for the attack, Daesh (IS) claimed responsibility,” he said.

If true, it would be the first major attack carried out by the IS in Afghanistan, marking a significant step in its expansion into South Asia.

Up until now militants claiming allegiance to IS in Afghanistan have been widely identified as former Taliban fighters disillusioned with their leadership.

The explosion smashed windows and sent debris flying across a tree-lined street, filling the air with smoke and dust.

“It was a suicide attack,” police chief Fazel Ahmad Sherzad told a news conference. He added that officials were investigating witness accounts of a second explosion after people had rushed to the area to help the wounded.

Police said a later blast that shook Jalalabad was a controlled detonation after experts discovered another bomb close to the scene of the initial explosion.

The Afghan Taliban denied responsibility for the carnage.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2015

On a mobile phone? Get the Dawn Mobile App: Apple Store | Google Play