Cricket match targeted as IS group spreads in Afghanistan

[unhappycamper]

http://www.france24.com/en/20150928-cricket-match-suicide-bombing-police-islamic-state-afghanistan



Afghan Solidarity members burn an Islamic State flag during a rally against the IS group in Kabul in October 2014

Cricket match targeted as IS group spreads in Afghanistan
Latest update : 2015-09-28

At least nine people were killed and 33 wounded Sunday in a bomb attack at a sports match in eastern Afghanistan, officials said, on the same day that Islamic State fighters launched coordinated attacks on the country’s police forces.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast at the sports field in restive Paktika province, while the interior ministry said three officers were killed in the IS attack on police checkpoints in neighbouring Nangarhar province, close to the border with Pakistan.

The unrest ended a lull in attacks during the Muslim festival of Eid and underlined the challenges facing President Ashraf Ghani, whose national unity government has drawn criticism for failing to end growing insurgent attacks a year after coming to power.

The Taliban denied being behind the attack in Paktika, a volatile frontier region considered a stronghold of the Haqqani network, a hardline militant group aligned with the Taliban.