Dozens of casualties in blast at Afghan voter registration center

A blast at a voter registration center in east Afghanistan killed or wounded at least 30 people Sunday, officials say, capping a bloody week in the war-torn country.

The bomb had been placed in a tent being used to register voters on the grounds of a mosque, Khost provincial police chief Abdul Hanan Zadran tells AFP.

“A crowd of people who had come out of the mosque had gathered to register” when the blast took place, he adds.

At least 12 people had been killed and 33 wounded, provincial deputy director of public health Gul Mohammad Mangal tells AFP.

But he adds the toll could rise.

“Some wounded people are in critical condition and ambulances are still bring more people,” he says.

It was the latest attack on election preparations and comes almost a week after 25 people were killed in two attacks in the Afghan capital Kabul.

Nine journalists including AFP chief photographer Shah Marai were among the dead. BBC reporter Ahmad Shah was killed in a separate attack in Khost province.

— AFP