Suicide bomber strikes Kabul's Shiite area; 7 killed, 22 injured

At least seven people were killed and 22 others injured in a suicide attack in western Kabul near where thousands of members of the Shia Hazara minority had gathered.

An Interior Ministry official told TOLO news that the explosion took place near the Mosalla-e-Mazar area in Police District 6.

Meanwhile, Afghan Public Health Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Majroh told EFE news that the toll could rise.

The gathering, which was attended by senior government officials, marked the death anniversary of Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan's former leader Abdul Ali Mazari.

These cities from our neighbourhood are the world's worst for living

Pakistan's Karachi city and Bangladesh's capital city Dhaka have been named among the least liveable cities of the world, says a survey.

According to Global Liveability Report compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, Karachi maintains its 134th rank in the listing of 140 cities, only managing to fare better than Port Moresby, Dhaka, Tripoli, Lagos and Damascus.

The survey says that Melbourne is the most liveable city in the world, followed by Austrian capital Vienna and Canada's Vancouver in the second and third place respectively.

However, no Indian city was ranked in the top ten or bottom ten in the most liveable city ranking.

The ranking is based on the qualitative and quantitative factors falling broadly in the categories of stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education and infrastructure.

The survey only includes cities which people might want to live in or visit. Therefore, it excludes cities like Kabul or Baghdad, where conflict is ongoing.

However, cities like Damascus, which were in the near past relatively unstable, have been included.

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Suicide blast at mosque kills 20, injures 60 others in Afghanistan's Herat

A suicide bomber and a gunman killed at least 29 people and wounded 63 at a packed Shiite mosque in Afghanistan's main western city of Herat on Tuesday night, the latest attack to highlight the country's deteriorating security situation.

The assault on the Jawadya mosque in Herat, which is close to Afghanistan's border with Iran, came a day after the Islamic State group claimed a deadly attack on the Iraqi embassy in Kabul.

The Herat attack was the latest in a series of assaults on Afghanistan's minority Shiite population.

"The death toll has risen to 29 killed and 63 wounded. Some wounded are in a critical condition so the toll may go up," hospital spokesman Rafeeq Shirzai told AFP.

Herat police spokesman Abdul Ahad Walizada said the assault happened around 8:00 pm (local time) when "a terrorist attack was carried out on a (Shiite) mosque in the third security district of Herat city".

"Based on our initial information two terrorists were involved, one of them wearing a suicide vest who detonated himself while the second one was armed with a rifle. They are both dead," he added.
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As violence sweeps Kabul, rapid pace of deportations from Europe continues

Thirty young men were deported to Kabul on June 6, on a Turkish Airlines flight from Istanbul. The deportation comes as Afghanistan is again wracked by violence. Less than a week ago, a bomb in the Afghan capital killed around 150 civilians and injured 500 more. Two days later, on June 2, the police opened fire on a demonstration, killing seven. Another three explosions then cost the lives of at least 22 people. Despite this, the men were being deported – by Norway, Sweden and Turkey.

Those being deported from Turkey were being sent back as part of the EU-Turkey deal, which sees Turkey getting paid to maintain Europe’s frontiers. The men are deported as undocumented migrants, with no chance of having an asylum claim examined, let alone granted. Those being deported from Scandinavia may well have had their claims examined and rejected, though even those who have claims accepted are told Kabul remains safe. One of the officials from Norway told me that he had faith in his system. But given the volatility of the situation, such assertions need to be re-examined. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, for example, responded to the attacks by suspending all deportations from Germany.

Over the last five months, I have witnessed this process on each of the flights I have taken from Istanbul to Kabul, noting each time the apparent indifference of European escorts and Turkish officials. But this latest flight was particularly shocking given what has just happened.

As I spoke to the young men while boarding, and asked why, in the light of the shocking recent events, the deportations were going ahead, the Turkish police threatened to arrest me. Meanwhile, the Scandinavian escorts pushed me away physically, telling me to leave. But I had a ticket for the same flight.

On the tarmac, the young men were taken off the buses and boarded first. Job accomplished, the Turkish officials engaged in horseplay with each other and took selfies. My seat was at the back of the plane, where some of the young Afghans were seated between their escorts (others were just accompanied to the plane). Taking my seat, I asked the young men in Dari – a Persian language spoken in Afghanistan – whether they had anyone in Kabul. A handful said yes; the others shook their heads.

I asked the escorts, a group of around 15 men and one woman, since Kabul was considered safe, if they would be willing to join me for a drink or dinner on arrival. My invitation was met with silence. Shortly afterwards, the stewardesses came to tell me that they had found a nicer seat for me near the front of the plane. I refused politely and they insisted gently, explaining that it was all police at the back of the plane and they would be noisy.
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