It was not clear if the politician, Atta Mohammad Noor, governor of the northern province of Balkh and a leader of the mainly ethnic Tajik Jamiat-i-Islami party, was at the meeting at the time of the attack.
ISIS claimed responsibility, according to Amaq, its official news agency. The Taliban denied involvement.
“We are proud to be martyred because of our country and our rights. This gathering was for the sake of our country to raise our voice,” said witness Jan Mohammad.
The explosion was the latest in a wave of violence that has killed and wounded thousands of civilians in Afghanistan this year.
A spokesman for the interior ministry said the bomber approached the hotel hosting the gathering in the Khair Khana district of Kabul, on foot. The dead included seven policemen and two civilians.
Media showed photographs, apparently from witnesses, which appeared to show about a dozen bodies.
In June, a suicide bomber attacked a meeting of Jamiat-i-Islami leaders, including Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah.
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source : Reuters
Thursday
16 November 2017
12:27:55 PM
867217
A suicide bomb attack in the Afghan capital on Thursday near a gathering killed at least nine people and wounded many, the interior ministry said.