A man calling for “no discrimination” marches in the protest.
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Two explosions rocked a peaceful demonstration in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, on Saturday, organizers and eyewitnesses said, with the government reporting at least 80 dead.
At least 80 people were killed and more than 230 wounded Saturday when attackers detonated explosives amid a huge crowd of peaceful protesters in the Afghan capital, a lot of them from the country’s Shiite ethnic Hazara minority, Afghan officials said.
The attack was the first by Islamic State (Isis) on a target in Kabul, raising concerns about the group’s reach and capability in Afghanistan. The Hazara group had gathered to protest the construction of an electrical power line, and to demand that the line pass through the Bamiyan province, which has a large Hazara population and desperately needs the infrastructure.
The deadliest attack on Kabul has left about 80 people dead and 230 gravely injured.
Islamic State group claimed responsibility for twin explosions.
The attack was the worst in months and represents a major escalation for IS in the region, which has hitherto been largely confined to the eastern province of Nangarhar.
Mohammad Ismail Kawousi, a spokesman for the ministry of public health, said that the dead and injured had been taken to nearby hospitals – and added the toll could rise further.
“Based on initial information, the attack was carried out by three suicide bombers.The third attacker was gunned down by security forces”.
This attack was the deadliest in Kabul since 2011 when twin blasts in Kabul and Mazar-i Sharif killed 60 people, a lot of them Hazaras who had gathered to commemorate Ashura. These citizens include members of the defense and security forces.
A victim at the site of the suicide attack.
Daud Naji, a member of the Enlighten Movement which organized the marches, said on Sunday that they had been told only that there was a “heightened risk” of attack and had subsequently cancelled nine of 10 planned routes.
Ghani’s office issued a statement decreeing that the name of Demazang Square, where the de-monstrators had gathered, would be renamed Martyrs’ Square. “And today they really killed us”, said Daoud Shadab, witness.
President Pranab Mukherjee and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also condemned a suicide attack in Kabul, saying India stands by Afghanistan in opposing all forms of terrorism. The original plan routed the line through Bamiyan province, in the central highlands, where most of the country’s Hazaras live. The last one in May attracted tens of thousands of people and shut down the central business district.
Senior Hazara leaders were absent, despite having attended a similar protest in May.
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At the height of the march, demonstrators chanted slogans against President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, shouted “death to discrimination” and “all Afghans are equal”.
