Kabul-Afghanistan witnessed a day of national mourning on Sunday over the death of more than 80 people in twin suicide bombings that targeted a peaceful protest, in an attack claimed by ISIS. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State group. Saturday’s strike appears to be the deadliest in months to hit Afghanistan.
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Saturday’s demonstrators had been demanding that a 500 kV transmission line from Turkmenistan to Kabul be re-routed through two provinces with large Hazara populations, saying they feared being shut out of the project.
The shoes of victims are seen at the site of blast in Kabul, Afghanistan July 23, 2016.
A statement reported Saturday by the IS-Linked Aamaq online news agency said two IS militants detonated their explosive vests amid the crowds of minority ethnic Hazara demonstrators.
The Afghan government said it had warned the protestors they may be attacked and cordoned off much of the city.
“I promise you that I will avenge the blood of our loved ones on the perpetrators of this crime, wherever they are”, President Ashraf Ghani said, declaring Sunday a national day of mourning.
The Islamic State group is claiming responsibility for the deadly bombing of a protest march in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
“Anyone found guilty in the government or outside the government will be punished”, Ghani said.
The organizers could not be immediately contacted for comment on Chakhansuri’s statement.
They were demanding that a new power cable being laid from Turkmenistan to Pakistan via Kabul be rerouted through the province of Bamyan, now not connected the electricity grid.
The US government also condemned the attack in Kabul, first in a statement from its embassy in Afghanistan and later through its State Department spokesman John Kirby and White House spokesman Josh Earnest. However, it was later rerouted, with the government alleging that the redesigned course cut costs.
The Hazara are a Persian-speaking, Shi’ite community that has always been persecuted in Afghanistan.
They have long complained of discrimination. Bamiyan province, where most Hazara people live in the central highlands, is poverty stricken, though it is largely peaceful and has potential as a tourist destination.
The Taliban’s spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said in an earlier email that his insurgent group was not responsible for the blast.
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The Taliban has denied its involvement.
