Bomb Targets Indian Consulate and Mosque In Afghanistan- Children In Mosque Killed

Ramadan is winding down and the killing of innocents, including children, continues.

A suspected suicide car bomb has killed at least nine civilians in the eastern Afghan province of Nangarhar.

Police say the bombing, early on August 3, targeted the Indian Consulate in Nangarhar's capital, Jalalabad.

"[T]he suicide bomber attacked the mosque here and all those children who were reciting the holy Koran inside the mosque were martyred -- eight children were martyred and 21 others wounded," Nangarhar police chief Mohammad Sharif Amin said in the aftermath of the bombing.

He was speaking before the death toll rose to nine.

Ahmadzia Abdulzai, a spokesman for government of eastern Nangarhar Province, said a car containing explosives hit a barrier near the Indian consulate and detonated.

"Five attackers arrived here and they asked me, 'Where is the gate to the consulate?'" Javed Khan, an eyewitness, said. "Then one of them asked, 'Is there a mosque nearby?' I said yes, and then they told me that they need to go for prayer. Then I heard a bang and gunfire shortly."

The Indian External Affairs Ministry said all diplomats in the consulate were safe.

Taliban deny involvement.

Source: RFE/RL