Kabul, Isis attack at electoral centre: 57 dead

The terrorist blew himself up in the crowd. Among the dead, 21 women and five children. It is the fourth attack against electoral centres. The Afghan president promises that the violence will not stop the democratic process, but discontent grows among the people. "Our patience is exhausted, this government is responsible for these lost lives, nobody will go to vote now".

Kabul (AsiaNews / Agencies) - At least 57 are dead and more than 100 wounded in a suicide attack yesterday that hit polling station in the majority Shia neighborhood of Dashte Barchi, west of Kabul. The dead include 21 women and five children, killed while they were waiting in line outside the building.

The attack was claimed by ISIS, which in recent months has carried out several attacks against the Shiite minority of the country. The terrorist blew himself up with an explosive belt among the families waiting to withdraw their "tazkira" or national identity card. The explosion also reached the parked cars, destroying them.

"I found myself covered in blood, with dead people - women and children - around me," survivor Rasuli, 26, told Agence France Press (AFP) from his hospital bed. "They all wanted to vote".

It is the fourth attack perpetrated against registration centres since the electoral process began on April 14th. There are more than 7,000 centres established in the country to manage 10 million voters. Afghan citizens are called to vote legislative elections next October, followed by the presidential elections in 2019.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani denounced the attacks and claims that they will fail "to make us abandon our goals or weaken the national democratic process". However, the Afghan government is losing more and more ground: according to recent research by the BBC, it has total control of only 30% of the country, while the rest lives under the Taliban threat and, to a lesser extent, ISIS.

The population increasingly accuses the authorities of being unable to protect them: immediately after the attack, a crowd began to shout furiously calling for death of the Taliban and the government. "Our patience is exhausted, this government is responsible for these lost lives, nobody will go to vote now", ​​Hussein, 34,  told Afp from the bedside of his wounded cousin, in hospital.