ISIS Bombing Kills 29 in Kabul During Persian New Year Celebrations

A suicide bomber killed 29 people and wounded 52 others in an attack near a Shiite shrine in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Wednesday. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was targeting “a gathering of Shiites celebrating Nowruz,” the Persian New Year, the SITE intelligence group reported. Gen. Daud Amin, Kabul’s police chief, said the attack was near a government hospital, Kabul University, and the Sakhi shrine. The suicide bomber, according to police, was able to slip past police checkpoints and carried out the attack on foot. The Shiite minority, which usually celebrates Nowruz by visiting shrines, has been repeatedly targeted by Sunni extremists in ISIS. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called the bombing a “crime against humanity” in a statement.