KABUL: Gunmen attacked a ceremony in Kabul on Friday, killing at least 27 people in the first major attack on the Afghan capital since the United States reached an agreement with the Taliban to withdraw U.S. troops.
The Taliban, the largest Islamist militant group in Afghanistan, said in a statement they were not involved in the attack. A top Afghan political leader, Abdullah Abdullah, was present at the event but escaped unharmed.
Fifty-five people were wounded, according to the Afghan ministry of health.
“The attack started with a boom, apparently a rocket landed in the area, Abdullah and some other politicians … escaped the attack unhurt,” Abdullah’s spokesman, Fraidoon Kwazoon, who was also present, told Reuters by telephone.
A health ministry spokesman said the casualty toll could rise. Dead and wounded were being ferried from the site by ambulance.
A NATO source said that the death toll was slightly higher: more than 30 killed, with 42 wounded, 20 of whom were in a serious condition.
A ministry of interior spokesman said that operations were continuing to secure the area around the attack.
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