Kabul, Afghanistan Suicide Bombings Kill Dozens, Including Journalists
KABUL, Afghanistan (CBS News) -- A coordinated double suicide bombing hit central Kabul on Monday morning, killing at least 25 people, including journalists, officials said. At least 45 more people were left wounded.
Agence France-Presse, the AFP, reported that the news agency's chief photographer in Kabul, Shah Marai, was among those killed. AFP said Marai died in a blast that targeted a group of journalists who had rushed to the scene of the earlier suicide attack in the Afghan capital.
The affiliate of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Afghanistan claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement posted online, and the Taliban denied any involvement.
Sediqullah Tawhidi, an official form the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee, said a cameraman from the local TOLO TV was among those killed. Nine journalists in total, including one woman, were killed in the second blast, Hujatullah Majidi, deputy at the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee, told CBS News.
It was the deadliest attack on journalists in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of the country to topple the Taliban government.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish told CBS News partner network BBC News that four police officers were also among the dead.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said the first suicide bomber was on a motor bike and the second attacker was among the crowd of reporters who rushed to the scene of the first attack. Stanekzai said the second attacker pretended to be one of the media members, then detonated his explosives while still among the reporters.
Sediqullah Tawhidi, an official form the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee, said a cameraman from the local TOLO TV was among those killed. Nine journalists in total, including one woman, were killed in the second blast, Hujatullah Majidi, deputy at the Afghan Journalists Safety Committee, told CBS News.
It was the deadliest attack on journalists in Afghanistan since the 2001 U.S.-led invasion of the country to topple the Taliban government.
Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danish told CBS News partner network BBC News that four police officers were also among the dead.
Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanekzai said the first suicide bomber was on a motor bike and the second attacker was among the crowd of reporters who rushed to the scene of the first attack. Stanekzai said the second attacker pretended to be one of the media members, then detonated his explosives while still among the reporters.
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