Death toll from Kabul bombing swells to 27

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

The death toll from Sunday’s suicide bombing in the Afghan capital Kabul has more than doubled, a health official confirmed on Monday.

Khalil Wardag, head of emergency affairs at the Public Health Ministry, told Anadolu Agency the death toll had jumped from 11 to 27, with some 20 wounded victims being treated in various hospitals in the capital.

Most of the victims are civilians, including women and children, he added.

Minutes after the convoy of Afghan Vice President Abdul Rasheed Dostum -- returning home after 14 months of self-exile in Turkey -- left Hamid Karzai International Airport on Sunday, a suicide blast rocked a crowd of his supporters.

The blast had been meant for Dostum’s convoy, but when the bomber was intercepted short of the convoy, he blew himself up, according to the Afghan National Police (ANP).

There has been no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.