DAY OF MOURNING FOLLOWS BOMBING
AFGHANISTAN
KABUL • Afghanistan marked a national day of mourning Sunday, a day after a suicide bomber killed at least 80 people taking part in a peaceful demonstration in Kabul. The attack was claimed by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group.
Another 231 people were wounded, some seriously, in the bombing Saturday afternoon on a march by ethnic Hazaras, who are predominantly Shiite Muslim. Most Afghans are Sunni, and ISIL regards Shiites as apostates.
The attack was the first by ISIL on Kabul — and the capital’s worst since the Taliban insurgency began 15 years ago, raising concerns about the group’s reach and capability in Afghanistan.
Bereaved families collected their dead from hospitals and morgues, and began digging graves as the first funerals went ahead.
Many people chose to bury their dead with others — rather than in traditional family plots — encouraged by organizers of the Saturday demonstration, the Enlighten Movement.
In a hilltop graveyard in the Surkh Abad suburb of southwestern Kabul, hundreds of people, mostly men, braved high winds and swirling dust to conduct the funeral rites.
Simple wooden coffins covered in the green Shiite flag were carried by men on their shoulders and lowered into graves relatives had dug with shovels.
In Omaid-a-Sabz, the grieving chose to bury their dead side by side in long rows.
Mullah Mohammad Hassan Rasat said the Hazara felt a deep sense of injustice and anger the government had not kept its election promise to ensure development was equal for all Afghan ethnic groups.
“Our people only want justice and equal development for all,” he said.
Hazaras account for up to 15 per cent of Afghanistan’s estimated 30 million people and say they face discrimination.
During the Taliban’s 19962001 rule, the Hazaras were often brutally treated. The Taliban were quick to deny culpability for the attack.
The incident has raised concerns about sectarianism. The Interior Ministry announced a ban on public gatherings and demonstrations in an apparent bid to avoid any inter-communal strife.
A presidential spokesman explained the ban on public gatherings would not apply to the funerals for Saturday’s victims.
ISIL has had a presence in Afghanistan for the past year, mainly in the eastern province of Nangarhar along the Pakistani border. The Afghan military, backed by U.S. troops, is planning an offensive against ISIL positions in Nangarhar in the coming days.
Before the Saturday attack, thousands of Hazaras had marched through Kabul to demand the rerouting of a power line through their impoverished province of Bamiyan, in the central highlands.