An explosion hit near a campaign rally for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Tuesday. The gathering in Parwan province did not appear to be directly hit, according to initial reports from Afghanistan's TOLO news. 

They also reported that President Ghani was not injured.

TOLO tweeted footage of the event before the blast:

Local media and officials later said that at least 24 people had been killed and many more injured.

"Women and children are among them, and most of the victims seem to be the civilians. Ambulances are still operating, and the number of casualties may rise," said Abdul Qasim Sangin, head of the provincial hospital.

Officials in Parwan said the device was believed to be a sticky bomb, a type of hand grenade, attached to a police vehicle near the entrance to the venue.

Later on Tuesday there were also reports of a second blast in Kabul, which was near both an army base and the US embassy.

There has been an uptick in violence across Afghanistan in the run-up to the country's elections on September 28.

Source: dw.com

BDST: 1540 HRS, SEP 17, 2019
RS