KABUL, Afghanistan — A suicide bomber targeted a protest rally in eastern Afghanistan on Tuesday, killing more than 30 civilians, officials said, in the latest wave of spiraling violence in the country.
The strike intensified questions about the ability of the government and the efficiency of U.S.-led troops who have been stationed in Afghanistan in response to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, which were carried out by the al-Qaida network, then based in the country.
Nearly 130 other civilians were hurt in Tuesday’s strike, which occurred outside Jalalabad, the capital of Nangahar province, near the border with Pakistan.
The provincial public health chief, Najibullah Kamawal, said 32 dead and 128 wounded were transported to hospitals in Nangahar.
In addition, some people at the scene immediately recovered the bodies of their relatives, he said, “so the fatalities may go up.”
Ahmed Ali Hazrat, head of the Nangahar provincial council, also said the death toll may rise, as some of the wounded were in critical condition.
Hazrat said the protesters moved on to their rally even after the attack. Officials said several hundred people gathered to complain about a local police commander by blocking the main highway between Jalalabad and the Torkham crossing on the border with Pakistan.
“We are fed up with insecurity,” he said. “Attacks occur every day. And the government doesn’t pay attention.”
Hours earlier, several small explosions occurred near schools in various parts of Jalalabad, which has been the focus of deadly strikes by affiliates of the Islamic State militant group in recent months. A 14-year-old student was killed, and at least four people were wounded in the first attack, officials said.
The Taliban, the main insurgent group fighting the Afghan government and foreign troops, distanced itself from the blasts.
No other group asserted responsibility for any of Tuesday’s bombings.
In a statement, President Ashraf Ghani condemned the suicide bombing.
“The enemies of Afghanistan through such savagery cannot weaken the will of our people for a bright future and a stable country,” he said.
On Sunday, the Islamic State said one of its suicide bombers struck a convoy of gunmen who took to the streets in Kabul for hours to commemorate the death anniversary of legendary anti-Taliban commander Ahmed Shah Massoud. The gunmen fired indiscriminately, mostly into the air, disrupting the lives of tens of thousands of people during their tribute to Massoud. Seven people in the convoy were killed.
