Kabul Suicide Bombing Kills 54

At least 100 injured in attack on Shia pilgrims during holy Ashura festival.

The worst suicide attack in Afghanistan in three years killed at least 54 people at a shrine in Kabul today. Shia men, women, and children had gathered at the Abul Fazel shrine in Kabul to mark the festival of Ashura, the most holy festival of the year for Shia Muslims in which they observe the martyrdom of Mohammed's grandson. A suicide bomber blew himself up near where hundreds of pilgrims had congregated, killing dozens and injuring more than 100 people. The Taliban has said they were not responsible for the "cruel and indiscriminate" attack, although no other sources have come forward. Another bomb detonated at a Shia mosque in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif, killing four. Shia Muslims are a minority in Afghanistan, but sectarian conflicts are relatively rare in the central Asian country, at least compared to Pakistan or Iraq.