At least 27 people killed in attack on Kabul rally
KABUL: At least 27 people were killed in an attack on a political rally in Kabul on Friday, officials said, in the deadliest assault in Afghanistan since the US signed a withdrawal deal with the Taliban.
The attack highlights the glaring lack of security in the heavily fortified Afghan capital just 14 months ahead of the scheduled withdrawal of all foreign forces under an agreement signed on February 29 by the US and the Taliban.
Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said women and children were among the dead with an additional 29 wounded, adding that “special forces units are carrying out clearance operations against the attackers”.
“The figures will change,” he said. Nizamuddin Jalil, a health ministry official, gave a slightly higher toll, saying 29 people had been ki l l e d a nd 3 0 o t hers wounded. The Taliban immediately denied responsibility for the assault, which occurred at the commemoration ceremony for Abdul Ali Mazari - a politician from the Hazara ethnic group, most of whom are Shiite.
An Islamic State groupclaimed attack on the same ceremony last year saw a barrage of mortar fire kill at least 11 people.
Rahimi had earlier said that gunfire had erupted from a construction site near the ceremony in the city’s west, which is largely Shiite. President Ashraf Ghani condemned the massacre, calling it a “crime against humanity”.
The ceremony was attended by many of the country’s political elite, including Afghanistan’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah. The interior ministry later confirmed to reporters that “all the high-ranking officials were safely evacuated from the scene”.
The incident comes less than a week after the US and Taliban signed a deal that would pave the way for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months.