At least 80 people have been killed and over 230 others injured after two suicide bombers detonated explosives into a crowd of people in Kabul.
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Leaders of the marches have said the rerouting was evidence of bias against the Hazara community. During the Taliban’s 1996-2001 rule, Hazaras were often brutalized more than other ethnic groups.
“Brazil condemns the attack in Kabul and expresses solidarity with the families of the victims, the people and government of Afghanistan”, said a Brazilian Foreign Ministry statement.
“The attack was carried out by three suicide bombers…”
President Ashraf Ghani declared a national day of mourning and vowed revenge, while the top United Nations official in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, condemned the attack as a war crime.
The claim by ISIS acknowleding responsibility behind the attack comes as the loyalists of the terror group have been attempting to expand foothold in the country but are mainly confined in the remote districts of eastern Nangarhar province.
Hundreds of Hazaras have reportedly fought alongside President Bashar al-Assad’s troops in Syria against Sunni groups, including the Islamic State, in recent years, making Hazaras a likely target for the group’s loyalists back in Afghanistan. The suicide vest of the second bomber was defective and the third attacker was shot dead by security officials before he could blow himself up, Afghan news channel Tolo News reported on its Twitter feed.
The demonstrators were gathering in Demazang Square as their four-hour protest march wound down and they were setting up a camp, Chakhansuri said. Taliban group spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid said the group has no link with the explosions in Kabul city, calling it a move to create divisions among the people, said Khaama.com.
Seddiq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, says police were working to confirm initial reports of the blast.
The demonstrators had gathered in a protest organised by the Enlightening Movement over the planned route of the 500kV power line project that the Afghanistan government intends to roll out.
Ahead of Saturday’s rally in Kabul, authorities had blocked main roads to prevent protesters from reaching the city’s centre or the presidential palace.
They were demanding that this Tutap line connecting Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan to Afghanistan and Pakistan should pass through the Hazara-dominated Bamyan and Wardak provinces. The original plan routed the line through Bamiyan province, in the central highlands, where most of the country’s Hazaras live.
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The government has rejected the claims, saying the route of the transmission line was decided purely on technical grounds.
