Isil suicide bombers kill scores in Kabul
THE Islamic State of Iraq and Levant (Isil) has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in the Afghan capital Kabul yesterday that killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 200.
Graphic television footage from the site of the bombing showed bodies ly- ing on the bloodied road, in an area where thousands of members of the mainly Shia Hazara minority had been demonstrating over the route of a planned multimillion-dollar power line.
“Two fighters from Islamic State detonated explosive belts at a gathering of Shi’ites in the city of Kabul in Afghanistan,” said a brief statement by the Isilsupporting Amaq news agency.
The attack was the worst in months and, if confirmed as the work of Isil, would represent a major escalation for a group which has hitherto been largely confined to the eastern province of Nangarhar.
The explicit reference to the Hazara’s Shia religious affiliation also represents a menacing departure for Afghanistan, where the bloody rivalry between Sunni and Shia typical of Iraq has been relatively rare, despite decades of war. The Persian-speaking Hazara, estimated to make up about 9 per cent of the population, are Afghanistan’s thirdlargest minority, but they have long suffered discrimination. Thousands were killed under Taliban rule. The Taliban, a fierce enemy of Isil, had issued a statement denying any involvement. “We would never take part in any incident that divides the Afghan people,” Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, said.
The attack took place despite tight security, which saw much of the city centre sealed off with stacks of shipping containers and other obstacles and helicopters patrolling overhead.
Mohammad Ismail Kawousi, a spokesman for the ministry of public health, said at least 80 dead and 231 wounded had been taken to nearby hospitals.
Yesterday’s demonstrators had been demanding that a planned electricity line from Turkmenistan to Kabul be rerouted to include two provinces with large Hazara populations, an option the government says would cost millions and delay the project, which is due to be implemented by 2018.