Kabul: The death toll in a double suicide bombing, claimed by the Islamic State terror group, at a wrestling club in the Afghan capital has risen to 25, a police spokesman said on Thursday.
The first explosion occurred at 5.55 p.m. on Wednesday after a terrorist shot dead a security guard and detonated his explosive belt inside Maywand Wrestling Gym in Dasht-i-Barchi neighbourhood, killing six sportsmen and injuring 10 others, Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai told Xinhua news agency.
The second blast occurred outside the compound about an hour later. A bomber in a car targeted emergency services, police, reporters and crowd of people gathering near the site. At least 75 people were injured in the attacks.
A journalist and a cameraman working for local TV channel Tolo News TV also lost their lives and four reporters were wounded in the car bomb explosion.
Many of the injured, including several policemen, remained in critical condition.
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, UN mission in Afghanistan and journalist associations condemned the attack.
According to the Committee for the Protection of Journalists, more journalists have been killed in Afghanistan than any other country during 2018.
This year, 12 died in the violence, including two in Wednesday's attack. Another 10 journalists were killed in two attacks in April. They included a BBC reporter and a well-known photographer who had written about the dangers of reporting in the Afghan capital.
Dozens of Kabul residents have also been caught up in the escalating violence. At least 34 people were killed in a suicide attack targeting Shias at an education centre in Kabul last month.