Kabul suicide bombing death toll hits 52 with 112 wounded

The death toll from a suicide attack in Afghan capital of Kabul has risen to 52 with 112 others wounded, a spokesman of the Public Health Ministry said on Sunday.

An Afghan man stands outside a voter registration center, which was attacked by a suicide bomber in Kabul, Sunday, April 22, 2018. [Photo: AP/Rahmat Gul]

The blast occurred when the bomber blew himself up among a crowd lining up to get access to an election-related registration site in a local school Sunday morning, spokesman Waheed Majroh tweeted.

Those among the dead were 21 women and five children while several wounded remained in critical condition.

The Afghan election officials have set Oct. 20 as the date for parliamentary and district councils' elections, which have been delayed for a couple of times over the past years.

The voter registration process started on April 14 for the polls.

The voters will cast their ballots to elect members of the 249-seat lower house of parliament for a five-year term while they will also elect members of district councils.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and the UN mission in the county strongly condemned the attack, for which the Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has claimed responsibility.