The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the bombing, which struck a demonstration by Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazara community.
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Bereaved families collected their dead from hospitals and morgues across the capital and began digging graves yesterday as the first funerals went ahead in the west of the city.
The Afghan Interior Ministry, in a statement, said the attack on thousands of Hazaras, an ethnic minority group staging the protest, had been a suicide mission. Most Hazaras are Shiite Muslims but most Afghans are Sunni. The protesters were marching against government plans for a major power project to bypass Bamiyan, a predominantly Hazara province in the central highlands.
The IS group has had a presence in Afghanistan for the past year, mainly in the eastern province of Nangarhar along the Pakistani border.
The Kremlin is concerned Afghanistan might turn into a new hotspot amidst the end of North Atlantic Treaty Organisation combat missions and the gradual withdrawal of United States troops.
Taliban forces were quick to send out their own statement denying involvement, alleging that ISIS was attempting to “ignite a civil war”.
However, they are politically well organised and several of their leaders are part of President Ashraf Ghani’s delicately balanced national unity government, which has added to the sensitivity surrounding the protests.
“Holding protests is the right of every citizen of Afghanistan.but terrorists entered the protests, and carried out explosions that martyred and wounded a number of citizens including members of security forces”, the presidential palace said.
Witnesses said that immediately after the blast, security forces shot in the air to disperse the crowd.
The Hazaras are one of the poorest and least-assisted groups in a country where billions of dollars in aid have poured in since 2001.
While the Afghan leader promised to uphold citizens’ right to protest, the government chose to ban all forms of public gathering for the next 10 days.
“I have ordered the attorney general to set up a commission to investigate this incident”.
The movement also wanted the pipeline rerouted through Bamiyan, as originally demanded.
The Interior Ministry said at least 230 were being treated for injuries.
The Persian-speaking Hazara, estimated to make up about nine per cent of the population, are Afghanistan’s third-largest minority but they have long suffered discrimination and thousands were killed under Taliban rule.
A victim at the site of the suicide attack.
Three suicide bombers were involved in the attack, the official told CBS News.
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The attack appears to be the single deadliest attack in Kabul to be claimed by IS jihadists, who are making steady inroads in the country and challenging the Taliban on their own turf.
