UPDATE | Trump briefed on Afghanistan attack

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — The White House says President Donald Trump has been briefed on the Islamic State attack on a Shiite cultural center in Kabul, Afghanistan.

The White House also says Trump is continuing to monitor the situation, with chief of staff John Kelly providing updates to the president.

The attack, which killed more than 40 people and wounded scores more, was the latest in a series of assaults by a powerful local affiliate of the extremist group.

The Afghanistan branch, which calls itself the Khorasan Province, has stepped up attacks over the past year even as the extremists’ self-styled caliphate in Syria and Iraq has collapsed.