16 dead, 39 injured in Laghman funeral bombing

MEHTARLAM (Pajhwok): At least 16 people, mostly civilians, were killed and 39 others wounded on Thursday when a suicide bomber struck a funeral for victims of an earlier Taliban attack in eastern Laghman province.

The suicide attack took place in Pahlawan Baba area of Mehtarlam, the provincial capital. The dead included four policemen, including crime branch chief Col. Khalil Rahman Niyazi and 12 civilians, the governor’s spokesman, Sarhadi Zwak, told Pajhwok Afghan News.

He said people were attending funeral prayers for an Afghan Local Police (ALP) commander Syeda Ajan and three others killed earlier in the day in a roadside bombing.   

Police arrested a second would-be suicide bomber after the blast, said Zwak, adding the detainee was being investigated.

Meanwhile, Dr. Daem, the civil hospital deputy director, said five dead bodies and 30 wounded had been brought to the hospital.

nh/ma

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