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Two died in explosion at Kabul T20 cricket game, say Taliban

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the blast

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The Taliban on Saturday raised the casualty toll from a hand grenade explosion during a cricket game in the capital of Kabul the previous day, saying two civilians at the stadium died from the blast.

No one has so far claimed responsibility for the explosion but the blame is likely to fall on militants from Daesh — the Taliban’s chief rivals since they took over the country a year ago as US and NATO forces pulled out of Afghanistan after 20 years of war.

Previously, 13 people were reported wounded in the Friday afternoon blast at the International Cricket Stadium in Kabul, where several hundred people had gathered to watch the match.

At the time, the Italian-run Emergency Hospital in Kabul had confirmed on Twitter that 12 of the wounded were hospitalized while one other patient was treated and discharged.

On Saturday, the Taliban-appointed Kabul police spokesman, Khalid Zadran, said that two people had died. It wasn’t immediately clear if the two had died instantly or later, in hospital.

The game, between cricket teams Band-e-Amir Dragons and Pamir Zalmi, was briefly halted due to the explosion but later continued. The match was part of the domestic T20 Shpageza Cricket league games held every year. Cricket is a hugely popular sport in Afghanistan.

Friday's attack was widely condemned, including by Ramiz Alakbarov, the deputy at the UN mission in Afghanistan, who was at the stadium at the time of the attack but was unharmed. He was to address the Afghan cricket association.

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