Blast near political gathering kills 5 in Afghanistan

At least five civilians have been killed and seven others wounded in a blast outside the venue of a pro-government public gathering in eastern Afghanistan, an official said on Sunday.
Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor in eastern Nangarhar province, told Anadolu Agency a political gathering in the local capital Jalalabad city has been targeted.
“We can confirm five of our countrymen are martyred and seven more were wounded in the attack,” said Khogyani.
He said the incident took place when explosives, planted in a motorbike, detonated outside the Gul Agha Sherzai stadium in downtown Jalalabad.
It is, however, not known if a suicide attacker was riding it or the explosive-laden motorbike was parked there.
There has been no immediate claim of responsibility.
The gathering was organized by local politicians to express their support for the Kabul government in the wake of a rival political gathering in Kandahar province a day earlier.
Jalalabad city has been on the hit list of the pro-ISIL militants hiding in the province’s southern mountainous districts bordering Pakistan’s restive tribal belt.
On Saturday, two officers of the National Directorate of Security (NDS) were killed in a similar blast caused by explosives placed in an auto-rickshaw.
The pro-ISIL militants had claimed that attack.