Why did Suicide bomber kill 45 at volleyball match in Afghanistan

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Why did Suicide bomber kill 45 at volleyball match in Afghanistan
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A suicide bomber blew himself up at a inter-district volleyball tournament in eastern Afghanistan, killing at least 45 people in the country's deadliest terrorist attack this year. Bomber was on foot and mingling with the crowd, detonated his explosives. The bloodshed came just hours after Parliament approved agreements allowing US and NATO troops to remain in the country past the end of the year. Volleyball tournament was being attended by large crowed in Yahyakhail district late Sunday afternoon. Dozens more were wounded, many critically, said Mokhlis Afghan, spokesman for the governor of Paktika province. He said the bomber was mingling with the large crowd at the sporting event in Yahyakhail district when he set off the explosives. "There were too many people gathered in the one place to watch the game," Afghan said. Naseeb Ahmad, a doctor at Sharan Hospital in Paktika's capital, said the hospital received about 80 wounded people, 20 of them children. Officials said people of all ages were watching the adult-league inter-district tournament.

World is shocked to see this bloodshed and fading hopes of peace. But still hopes are alive.



Volleyball is a popular sport in Afghanistan, played across the country, and the attacker is likely to have targeted the event to ensure maximum casualties. It is also possible that the presence of local police in the crowd made it an attractive target, as security forces are regularly attacked by insurgents. Afghanistan's parliament approved agreements Sunday with the U.S. and NATO allowing international troops to remain in the country past the end of this year. Ghani's first act after becoming president was to sign the agreements, which are bitterly opposed by the Taliban and other insurgent groups. US President Barack Obama wants all US troops to be out of Afghanistan by the end of 2016, as his presidency draws to an end. Suicide bombers and their handlers are the worst sort of cowards. Since they can't convince others of their beliefs they resort to death.

No one claimed responsibility. "There were too many people gathered in the one place to watch the game. Dozens of others are wounded and we have reports that many of them are in critical condition," Afghan said. "We need urgent help from the central government because we might need to transfer wounded people to Kabul for treatment," he added. Paktika, bordering Pakistan, is one of Afghanistan's most volatile regions, where a Taliban-led insurgency is waging an intensifying war against the government in Kabul. Sunday's attack is one of the deadliest so far this year, a time when attacks are escalating alongside a contentious election and the inauguration of President Ashraf Ghani in September.

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