Attack kills 45 in Afghanistan
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- 45 dead and 60 wounded when suicide bomber sets off explosives in a crowd
- Volleyball is a popular sport in the region
- Sunday's attack comes as parliament approves NATO staying in Afghanistan past 2014
Volleyball is a popular sport in the region.
In 2010, a suicide car bomb exploded in the middle of a group of men playing volleyball in northwest Pakistan. That attack left 30 people dead and 52 wounded.
Sunday's attack comes the same day the nation's parliament agreed to allow NATO forces to remain in Afghanistan after 2014.
It's unusual for an attack in Afghanistan to kill so many people.
Only a few comparable incidents come up in the University of Maryland's Global Terrorism Database, which tracks acts of terror from 1970 to 2013.
In October 2012, a
suicide bomber dressed in a police uniform attacked a mosque in the city
of Maymana in Faryab province, according to the database. At least 42
people, including approximately 19 members of the Afghan security
forces, were killed and another 50 people injured in that blast. No
group claimed responsibility for the incident, but sources attributed it
to the Taliban.
In April 2013, nine
attackers dressed as soldiers killed 53 people at a courthouse complex
where several Taliban members were standing trial in the city of Farah.
At least one suicide bomber detonated an explosives-laden vehicle at the
entrance to the complex, while the other attackers entered other
buildings and began shooting and throwing grenades. About 93 additional
people were wounded. All of the attackers died, Global Terrorism
Database reports. The Taliban said it was behind the carnage.