At least 61 people were killed and 207 others wounded after a deadly
blast hit a protest in Afghan capital of Kabul on Saturday, a health
official said.
"The latest information found 61 people were
killed and 207 wounded. As I provide these figures there is fear that
the number of deaths and injuries may further go up because the
casualties were shifted to multiple hospitals across the city," Dr.
Ismahil Qawossi, a spokesman of Public Health Ministry, told Xinhua.
The incident took place at around mid-day when thousands of people were holding a demonstration to register their protest over change in route of a major electricity line.
The nature of the blast still remained unknown. However, unofficial sources said the explosion was conducted by a suicide bomber.
They said another bomber was shot dead by security forces before he detonated his explosive jacket.
The demonstration, held by the so-called "Enlightening Movement" protesters mainly from minority Hazaras, started on Saturday morning.
Media reports said the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Taliban militants denied involvement in the deadly incident.
Local media footage showed hundreds of Afghans who stand in long queues outside hospitals to donate blood for the victims.
"Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is deeply grieved by the explosions among protestors today in Kabul. The President said that holding protests is the right of every citizen of Afghanistan and the government puts all efforts to provide security for the protestors, but terrorists entered the protests, and carried out explosions that martyred and wounded a number of citizens including members of security and defense forces," the Presidential Palace said in a statement.
The president ordered all government authorities and entities to utilize the available resources to reach to those injured in the explosions, and urgently take the wounded to well-equipped hospitals for treatment, the statement said.
The Afghan leader also offered his condolences and sympathies to the families and all those affected, said the statement.
[Xinhua]
23/7/16
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Related:
The incident took place at around mid-day when thousands of people were holding a demonstration to register their protest over change in route of a major electricity line.
The nature of the blast still remained unknown. However, unofficial sources said the explosion was conducted by a suicide bomber.
They said another bomber was shot dead by security forces before he detonated his explosive jacket.
The demonstration, held by the so-called "Enlightening Movement" protesters mainly from minority Hazaras, started on Saturday morning.
Media reports said the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack.
The Taliban militants denied involvement in the deadly incident.
Local media footage showed hundreds of Afghans who stand in long queues outside hospitals to donate blood for the victims.
"Mohammad Ashraf Ghani, President of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan is deeply grieved by the explosions among protestors today in Kabul. The President said that holding protests is the right of every citizen of Afghanistan and the government puts all efforts to provide security for the protestors, but terrorists entered the protests, and carried out explosions that martyred and wounded a number of citizens including members of security and defense forces," the Presidential Palace said in a statement.
The president ordered all government authorities and entities to utilize the available resources to reach to those injured in the explosions, and urgently take the wounded to well-equipped hospitals for treatment, the statement said.
The Afghan leader also offered his condolences and sympathies to the families and all those affected, said the statement.
[Xinhua]
23/7/16
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Related:
Afghanistan's Hazara minority : Deadly blast kills at least 20 in Kabul protest
So-called Islamic State has said it was behind an attack on a protest march in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that killed at least 61 people and wounded 200...
L'organisation Etat islamique (EI) a revendiqué samedi l'un des plus sanglants attentats jamais commis à Kaboul, tuant plus d'une soixantaine de personnes au cœur d'une manifestation pacifique de la minorité hazara chiite.
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80 killed, over 200 injured as powerful twin blasts rock Kabul; Islamic State claims responsibility...
ReplyDeleteIslamic State group jihadists claimed responsibility for twin explosions Saturday that ripped through crowds of Shiite Hazaras in Kabul, killing at least 80 people and wounding 231 others in their first major attack in the Afghan capital.
The bombings, apparently aimed at sowing sectarian discord in a country well known for Shia-Sunni harmony, came as thousands of Hazaras gathered to protest over a multi-million-dollar power line....AFP