Amid mourning, Afghan leader vows to crush Islamic State havens

KABUL — As Afghanistan mourned the 63 people killed in a suicide bombing at a Kabul wedding, a brother of the groom spoke through tears of his weariness at the bloodshed in the country and the crushing guilt he felt at having to face his neighbors, many of whom lost relatives in the weekend blast.

“Around 20 victims’ families live in our very neighborhood,” said 22-year-old Ramin, whose brother, Mirwais Alami, survived along with his bride, Raihana.

“We don’t know how we should look at them,” said Ramin, who like many Afghans uses only one name. “Maybe they don’t want us, or like us, anymore.”

He was drained after a day of burying the dead, which included the 8-year-old brother of the bride. The bomber detonated his explosives Saturday night in the wedding hall, wounding nearly 200 others. The attack was claimed by an affiliate of the Islamic State.

The country on Monday marked a subdued 100th Independence Day after the bombing, with President Ashraf Ghani vowing to “eliminate” all safe havens for the Islamic State affiliate.

Many outraged Afghans are asking whether an expected deal between the United States and the Taliban to end nearly 18 years of fighting — America’s longest war — will bring peace as the affiliate poses a growing threat.

“We don’t care who will make a peace deal. We don’t care who will come into power,” Ramin said. “What we want is peace. We just want peace.”

The Islamic State affiliate said the bomber had targeted a gathering of minority Shiites, whom it views as apostates deserving of death.

In their nearly yearlong negotiations with the U.S., the Taliban want the approximately 20,000 U.S. and allied forces to withdraw from the country. For its part, the U.S. wants Taliban assurances that Afghanistan —...