KABUL: At least 80 people were killed and 240 others wounded as twin explosions ripped through a mammoth rally staged by the Hazara minority in Kabul on Saturday, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) said.
Mohammad Ismael Kawasi, the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH) spokesman, confirmed the casualties in the explosions that took place in the middle of the crowd at around 2:30 pm. Security forces cordoned off the site and no one was allowed to enter the area.
The first explosion happened near the Barikot Cinema and the second followed in Demazang Square. A large number of people were wounded and evacuated to hospitals.
Dr. Saber Naseb, Istiqlal Hospital director, said scores of wounded had been rought to the hospital and there was a possibility of more inured being shifted to the facility.
A security official, who wished to go unnamed, revealed the explosions were probably suicide attacks. Some enraged protesters gathered after the explosions at around 3:30 and threw stones at security officials.
The Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the deadly bombing of a protest march in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
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 attack came as thousands of demonstrators gathered to demand that a multi-million-dollar power line pass through their electricity-starved province of Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan with a large Hazara population.
“The horrific attack on a group of peaceful protestors in Kabul demonstrates the utter disregard that armed groups have for human life,” Amnesty International said in a statement.
Footage on Afghan television and photographs posted on social media showed a scene of carnage, with numerous bodies and body parts spread across the square.
Seddq Sediqqi, spokesman for the Ministry of Interior, said police were working to confirm initial reports of the blast.
Violence had been feared at what was the second demonstration by Hazaras over the power line issue. The last one in May attracted tens of thousands of people, also shutting down the central business district.
“Such attacks are a reminder that the conflict in Afghanistan is not winding down, as some believe, but escalating, with consequences for the human rights situation in the country that should alarm us all.”