The Islamic State claimed responsibility for two bombs that exploded in a heavily Shiite neighborhood of Kabul, Afghanistan, and left at least 20 dead and 70 others wounded Wednesday.
The attacks, apparently targeting emergency services and journalists, occurred in Dasht-e-Barchi, a neighborhood home to the Shiite Muslim Hazara ethnic minority, which has been targeted repeatedly in the past by ISIS, Reuters reported.
The first blast came when a suicide bomber detonated inside a wrestling training center and the second came moments after from a nearby car bomb. (RELATED: Twin Blasts Kill At Least 20 At Kabul Athletic Center)
In the first attack, the suicide bomber fatally shot a guard of the gym where spectators were watching a wrestling match, and then proceeded to blow himself up, officials told The Washington Post.
The second attack hit and killed a reporter and a cameraman from a local news station who had just arrived to do a live report from the scene, according to the report, and four other crew members from the station, Tolo News, were also injured.
These attacks are among a string of other deadly strikes in the region this year, and it’s proving to be one of the deadliest years since 2009 for noncombatants in Afghanistan, according to a U.N. Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) report.
Between Jan. 1 and June 30 about 1,700 noncombatants have been killed in Afghanistan.
This twin attack mirrors one from April, when at least nine journalists died from explosions at a high security zone in Kabul.
The Islamic State also claimed responsibility for those attacks.
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