A suicide bomber blew himself up near a cricket stadium in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday, killing three people including a policeman and wounding five others, police said. The attacker detonated the bomb after he was stopped at a security checkpoint by suspicious police as he walked towards Kabul's main cricket ground where a match was under way. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest in a series of deadly assaults in the city.
"The security forces by sacrificing themselves have prevented the attacker from reaching the crowd (inside the stadium) and creating a catastrophe," police spokesman Basir Mujahid told AFP. Two of the wounded were police officers. Several ambulances were seen speeding away from the scene, apparently taking the injured to hospital, an AFP reporter said.
Scores of police blocked the road leading to the stadium where the sixth match of the Shpageeza Cricket League, a domestic T20 tournament, between the Boost Defenders and Mis Ainak Knights was under way. A handful of foreign players are also taking part in the competition which started Monday.
Hundreds of spectators could be heard from outside the stadium as firefighters washed down the road where the bomber had blown himself to bits. Afghanistan Cricket Board spokesman Farid Hotak told AFP the match was briefly interrupted and "all players and cricket board officials are safe". Cricket was banned in Afghanistan during the Taliban's 1996-2001 rule but the sport has seen a stunning revival in recent years.
The last major attack in Kabul happened on August 29 when a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a bank days before the Eid festival, killing five people and wounding several others. Wednesday's assault came hours after eight Afghans expelled from Germany arrived in Kabul after Berlin resumed deportations of Afghan asylum-seekers.
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