Suicide bomber kills 23 at Afghan wedding
Source: AP-Excite
By DEB RIECHMANN and RAHIM FAIEZ
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - A suicide bomber blew himself up among guests at a wedding hall Saturday in northern Afghanistan, killing 23 people including a prominent ex-Uzbek warlord turned lawmaker who was the father of the bride.
The attack was the latest to target top figures from the country's minority groups and dealt a blow to efforts to unify ethnic factions amid growing concerns that the country could descend into civil war after foreign combat troops withdraw in 2014.
Ahmad Khan Samangani, an ethnic Uzbek who commanded forces fighting the Soviets in the 1980s and later became a member of parliament, was welcoming guests to his daughter's wedding Saturday morning when the blast ripped through the building in Aybak, the capital of Samangan province.
Three Afghan security force officials also were among those killed. About 60 other people, including government officials, were wounded in the attack, which left the wedding hall's black-and-white tile floor covered with shattered glass, blood and other debris.
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Afghan men inspect a damaged wedding hall that was the site of a bombing in Samangan province, north of Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday, July, 14, 2012. A suicide bomber blew himself up Saturday in a wedding hall in northern Afghanistan, killing at least 23 people including a prominent warlord-turned-politician and three Afghan security force officials, in an attack that deals a setback to efforts to unify the nation's ethnic factions, Afghan officials said. (AP Photo/Jawed Dehsabzi)
= new reply since forum marked as read
We need to leave them to the talibs, wash our bloodstain hands of that poppy stained hole
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A prominent, anti-Taliban politician has been killed in a suicide bomb attack at a wedding reception in northern Afghanistan.
Twenty-two other guests also died, many more were critically injured.
According to police, the bomber blew himself up as he hugged lawmaker Ahmad Khan Samangani, who was celebrating his daughter’s marriage.
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An intelligence chief and a senior police commander were also among the dead.
Samangani had apparently told guards not to inconvenience guests with security searches.
The Taliban has denied being behind the attack, one of the most lethal in recent months.
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http://www.euronews.com/2012/07/14/afghanistan-top-politician-killed-in-wedding-bomb-attack/
