The Taliban denied responsibility for Saturday’s bombing but have claimed credit for other recent attacks.
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Three weeks ago, two Taliban suicide bombers killed 34 people when they attacked a convoy of buses carrying newly graduated police officers in Kabul. But the resentment felt by many Hazaras runs deeper than simple questions of energy supply.
Dr. Waheed Majroeh, the head of worldwide relations for the Ministry of Public Health, says Saturday that 207 people were also wounded by the blast, which was claimed by the Islamic State group.
The attack in the nation’s capital occurred around 2:30 p.m. and was carried out by the “sworn enemies of Afghanistan”, according a statement by the country’s interior ministry.
The US Embassy said it “will continue to stand with our Afghan partners and friends as they strive every day to bring peace and security to Afghanistan”. “On April 18, local media received text messages allegedly from Shahidullah Shahid, a key figure in the establishment of Wilayat Khorasan, claiming responsibility on behalf of ISIS for the attack”, the Institute for the Study of War reported. It was the second major protest over the issue this year.
“Two fighters of the Islamic State detonated their explosive belts in a gathering of Shiites in…”
The spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has told The Associated Press that the central government had shared intelligence with the organizers of a protest march in Kabul that was bombed, warning that the marchers faced a possible “terrorist attack”.
Afghan authorities have closed off streets across the capital, Kabul, in preparation for a demonstration by ethnic Hazaras demanding a planned power line be rerouted through their poverty-stricken province.
Footage on Afghan television and photographs posted on social media showed a scene of horror and carnage, with numerous bodies and body parts spread across the square. The third bomber was killed by security forces at the scene before he could detonate his vest.
The May march was attended by Hazara political leaders, who were notable by their absence on Saturday. The protest march was largely peaceful before the explosion struck as the demonstrators sought to march on the presidential palace, waving flags and chanting slogans such as “death to discrimination”. The last one in May attracted tens of thousands of people and shut down the central business district.
They are considered the poorest of the country’s ethnic groups, and often complain of discrimination.
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Accounting for up to one-fifth of Afghanistan’s population, Hazaras have always been branded outsiders for their Shiite faith and far Asian features and targeted by the Taliban, according to a 2008 National Georgraphic article.
