Islamic clerics hit by bomber right after suicide attack "fatwa"

KABUL -- An attack targeting a meeting of Afghanistan's top religious body on Monday left at least seven people dead and nine others wounded, according to Kabul police. Ghafor Aziz, the police chief of Kabul's 5th District, said officers were working to secure the area after the attack.

A suicide bomber struck at one of the entrances of the compound where the meeting of the religious body, known as the Afghan Ulema Council, was taking place in the traditional tent of the Loya Jirga, or the council of elders.

It was not immediately clear how many of the clerics were among those killed.

No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but it appears to be the latest in a series of attacks by Islamic militants in Kabul. Both the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Afghanistan and the Taliban have launched several attacks in Kabul in recent months, killing hundreds of people.

Around 2,000 members of the council had gathered for the Loya Jirga, which earlier on Monday issued an Islamic ruling, or a fatwa, declaring that suicide attacks "haram," or forbidden under Islamic law.

The explosion struck as the gathering was ending and the participants were about to leave.