UPDATE1 -- Suicide bomber kills at least 45 at Afghan volleyball tournament

USPA News - At least 45 people were killed Sunday and dozens more were wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up at a volleyball tournament in southeastern Afghanistan, local officials said, making it one of the country`s deadliest attacks so far this year. The attack happened in Yahyakhel district of Paktika province when a suicide bomber detonated his explosives among a crowd of spectators at an inter-district volleyball tournament.

Gen Salangi, Afghanistan`s deputy interior minister for security affairs, said at least 45 people were killed while 56 others were injured. The number of casualties was expected to rise, with a local news agency reporting that as many as 55 people had been killed. Hundreds of villagers from the region had come to attend Sunday`s event, which included a game between the districts of Yahyakhel and Yusufkhel. A provincial official said the unidentified attacker posed as a villager and was mingling among the spectators when he blew himself up. "The barbaric attack to civilians in Paktika is not acceptable, it is a massacre and terrorists are responsible for their deaths," Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum said. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani also condemned the deadly attack, which occurred as spectators were clapping and cheering for the game. It was not immediately known who was responsible for Sunday`s bombing, and there were no claims of responsibility, but the region is known as a stronghold of the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani Network. One official said the explosives belt was packed with ball bearings, a tactic used to increase casualties.