Afghanistan war: Child used in Afghanistan suicide attack

At least nine people died and 12 others were injured on Friday when a child was used to carry out a suicide attack on a wedding party in eastern Afghanistan, local officials said.

The attack took place in Nangarhar province’s Pachiragam district.

Provincial spokesman Attaullah Khugyani said the child was used to target a pro-government militia commander in Friday morning’s attack.

The Taliban denied it was behind the bombing in an area close to Pakistan.

The Islamic State (IS) group in Afghanistan, also known as IS Khorasan, is known to be active in Pachiragam.

The group has been blamed for a number of deadly attacks in Afghanistan – including a suicide bombing at a Kabul education centre last year that killed dozens of people.