- Title: ''I've lost hope'' - Afghan groom after Islamic State attack during his wedding
- Date: 18th August 2019
- Summary: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN (AUGUST 18, 2019) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF MAN PILING ITEMS OF CLOTHING COVERED IN BLOOD
- Embargoed: 1st September 2019 15:22
- Keywords: Afghanistan wedding blast suicide bomb groom
- Location: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- City: KABUL, AFGHANISTAN
- Country: Afghanistan
- Topics: Bombing (non-military),Conflicts/War/Peace
- Reuters ID: LVA005ASQTV0N
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The groom of the Afghanistan wedding which was hit by a suicide blast on Saturday night (August 17) leaving 63 people dead has spoken of his anguish after losing family and friends.
"I've lost hope. I lost my brother, my friends who came to join my wedding party," Mirwais Elmi, told local media.
His bride survived but lost 14 members of her father's family.
The Islamic State militant group claimed responsibility on Sunday (August 18) for the attack, underling the dangers the country faces even if the Taliban agree a pact with the United States.
The Saturday night attack came as the Taliban and the United States try to negotiate an agreement on the withdrawal of U.S. forces in exchange for a Taliban commitment on security and peace talks with Afghanistan's U.S.-backed government.
The Taliban had earlier denied responsibility for the Kabul attack and condemned it.
More than 180 people were wounded with many women and children among the casualties, interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said on Sunday, as families thronged to Kabul's crowded cemeteries.
There has been no let-up in fighting and bomb attacks in Afghanistan over recent months despite the talks between the United States and the Taliban since late last year.
The Taliban have been fighting to expel foreign forces and re-establish an Islamic state since they were ousted in October 2001, weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks on the United States.
(Production: Aziz Mohammad, Sayed Hassib, Hameed Farzad) - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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