Suicide bomber kills 57 in Afghan capital

Kabul: A suicide bomber blew himself up outside a voter registration center in the capital on Sunday, killing at least at least 57 people and wounding more than 100, in the deadliest attack yet on preparations for elections scheduled for October.

Islamic State or Daesh claimed responsibility for the attack  via its propaganda arm Amaq.

"The dead include civilians, including women and children," said interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish.

"It happened at the entrance gate of the centre. It was a suicide attack," according to Dawood Amin, Kabul police chief.

The centre in a heavily Shia-populated neighbourhood in the west of the city was also being used by people to register for national identification certificates, which they need to sign up to vote.

Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh said a bomber on foot approached the center where officials were issuing identity cards as part of the registration process for around 10 million voters across Afghanistan. Registration began this month.

The assaults underscore growing concerns about security in the lead-up to legislative elections scheduled for October 20, which are seen as a test-run for next year's presidential poll.

Elections are of key importance to the credibility of President Ashraf Ghani's government, which has been under international pressure to ensure long-delayed parliamentary polls take place this year.

President Ghani issued a statement condemning the attack and said it "cannot divert us from our aims or weaken this national democratic process."

A spokesman for the ministry of public health said at least 52 people were confirmed dead and 112 wounded. He said the total could climb.

The explosion destroyed cars and shattered windows in nearby buildings, leaving rubble strewn across the blood-stained street.

It was the deadliest blast in Kabul since about 100 people were killed in January by a bomb concealed in an ambulance and it came after repeated warnings that militants could try to disrupt the election process.

Tadamichi Yamamoto, the senior United Nations official in Afghanistan issued a statement condemning the attack.

"Compounding the callous disregard for the lives of civilians, the killing appears to be part of a wholly unacceptable effort by extremists to deter Afghan citizens from carrying out their constitutional right to take part in elections," he said.

After weeks of relative calm, the blast took place in Dasht-e Barchi, an area of western Kabul inhabited by many members of the mainly Shia minority, which has been repeatedly hit by attacks claimed by Daesh.

Sheets of paper and passport-sized photos lay scattered amid shattered glass and pools of blood on the street near badly damaged cars -- grim evidence of the force of the blast that drew international condemnation.

"There were women, children. Everyone had come to get their identity cards," said Bashir Ahmad who had been near the blast, which occurred despite heightened security after the January attack.

According to U.N. figures, more than 750 people have been killed or maimed in suicide attacks and bombings by militant groups during the three months to March ahead of an expected start of the Taliban's normal spring offensive.

Voter security

Ariana TV showed angry crowds shouting "Death to the government!" and "Death to the Taliban!"

A wounded man in a hospital bed wept as he told the network: "I don't know where my daughters are. God damn the attackers!"

A witness to the attack named Akbar told Tolo TV: "Now we know the government cannot provide us security: we have to get armed and protect ourselves."

Elsewhere, a roadside explosion in the northern province of Baghlan on Sunday killed six people, including three women and two children.