An explosion, thought to have been caused by a suicide bomber, has killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more at a volleyball match in eastern Afghanistan.
The attack on Sunday occurred in the Paktika province, where locals had gathered to watch the game.
Afghanistan's president Ashraf Ghani said the incident was a"heinous attack", according to his spokesman and Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement, "no cause justifies such acts of terrorism and taking of innocent lives."
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The explosion occurred just hours after the lower house of the Afghan parliament, approved security deals which will see around 12,000 NATO and US troops remain in the country after most foreign troops withdraw next month.
The deal, which is opposed by armed opposition groups, is yet to be ratified by the upper house of parliament.
Ghani also approved the lifting of a ban on night raids by special forces troops, a controversial practise that was blocked by his predecessor.
The move could see American Special Operations units in an advisory role alongside Afghan troops conducting night raids across the country.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Hameed, commander of the Afghan National Army’s 205th Corps in Kandahar, praised the move, saying,
“We need strong backing of foreign forces during night raids, the helicopters and night vision goggles, GPS equipment, and better guidance... Now we have noticed free movement of the Taliban, they are moving around at night and passing messages and recruiting people for fighting, and the only solution to stop their movement is night raids.”
See more from the New York Times here.
Meanwhile NATO confirmed that two troops were killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan on Monday.
The attack on Sunday occurred in the Paktika province, where locals had gathered to watch the game.
Afghanistan's president Ashraf Ghani said the incident was a"heinous attack", according to his spokesman and Pakistan's foreign ministry said in a statement, "no cause justifies such acts of terrorism and taking of innocent lives."
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
The explosion occurred just hours after the lower house of the Afghan parliament, approved security deals which will see around 12,000 NATO and US troops remain in the country after most foreign troops withdraw next month.
The deal, which is opposed by armed opposition groups, is yet to be ratified by the upper house of parliament.
Ghani also approved the lifting of a ban on night raids by special forces troops, a controversial practise that was blocked by his predecessor.
The move could see American Special Operations units in an advisory role alongside Afghan troops conducting night raids across the country.
Maj. Gen. Abdul Hameed, commander of the Afghan National Army’s 205th Corps in Kandahar, praised the move, saying,
“We need strong backing of foreign forces during night raids, the helicopters and night vision goggles, GPS equipment, and better guidance... Now we have noticed free movement of the Taliban, they are moving around at night and passing messages and recruiting people for fighting, and the only solution to stop their movement is night raids.”
See more from the New York Times here.
Meanwhile NATO confirmed that two troops were killed in an attack in eastern Afghanistan on Monday.