IS attacks protest in Afghan capital, kills 80 people

Suicide bombings in the capital of Afghanistan on Saturday killed more than 60 people and injured more than 200 others, many of whom were taking part in a political demonstration, authorities said.

The attacks have heightened security fears in Afghanistan’s capital.

It was the deadliest bombing seen in Kabul since April, when more than 60 people were killed in an attack on offices used by the security services.

The deaths are more than double earlier estimates.

“The dead and wounded were taken to Istiqlal hospital near the blast scene”, AFP quoted health ministry spokesman Mohammad Ismail Kawoosi.

Police have been moving trucks and containers into the city overnight Friday to block roads and prevent marchers reaching the city center or the presidential palace.

The 500-kilovolt TUTAP power line, which would connect the Central Asian nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan with electricity-hungry Afghanistan and Pakistan, was originally set to pass through the central province.

The Taliban issued a statement denying involvement in Saturday’s attack, describing it as an attempt by IS to “ignite civil war”.

“Two fighters of the Islamic State detonated their explosive belts in a gathering of Shiites in…”

The demonstrators had gathered in a protest organised by the Enlightening Movement over the planned route of the 500kV power line project that the Afghanistan government intends to roll out.

Afghans help a man who was injured in a deadly explosion that struck a protest march by ethnic Hazaras in Kabul on July 23.

The protests by a group whose leaders include members of the national unity government have put pressure on President Ashraf Ghani, who has faced growing opposition from both inside and outside the government.

Witnesses said that immediately after the blast, security forces shot in the air to disperse the crowd. That attack was claimed by a Pakistani Sunni extremist group called Lashkar-e-Jhangvi. “Peaceful demonstrations are the right of every citizen of Afghanistan and the government will do everything it can to provide them with security”, Ghani said. The last one in May attracted tens of thousands of people, also shutting down the central business district. Even though the country is no longer under Taliban rule, Hazaras say the Afghan government is not protecting their interests or taking violence against them seriously.

“Based on initial information, the attack was carried out by three suicide bombers…” The original plan routed the line through the Hazara heartland of Bamiyan province, but was changed in 2013 by the previous Afghan government.

The bombs detonated in the middle of a peaceful protest that consisted predominantly of Hazaras, a Shia minority group in Afghanistan that has a long history of being discriminated against in the country.