KABUL – No less than 30 folks have been killed when gunmen opened hearth throughout a ceremony attended by nation’s high politicians within the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday.
Afghanistan’s Chief Govt Abdullah Abdullah escaped unhurt, however a minimum of 55 folks have been injured, officers stated.
This was the primary main assault on the capital because the deal between the US and Taliban was signed final Saturday. The Taliban denied accountability.
The identical occasion, commemorating the demise of an Afghan Shia chief, was attacked by Islamic State militants in 2019.
The photographs have been fired from a close-by constructing which is below building, in response to police. The ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of ethnic Hazara chief Abdul Ali Mazari’s demise by the hands of the Taliban was being broadcast dwell, and folks have been seen fleeing because the sound of gunfire rang out.
Wahidullah Mayar, well being ministry spokesman, stated that “27 bodies” had been recovered.
Inside ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi stated ladies and kids have been among the many useless. “The figures will change,” he stated.
Nizamuddin Jalil, a well being ministry official, gave a barely larger toll, saying 29 folks had been killed and 30 others wounded. The Taliban instantly denied accountability for the assault, which occurred on the commemoration ceremony for Abdul Ali Mazari, a politician from the Hazara ethnic group.
An Islamic State group-claimed assault on the identical ceremony final 12 months noticed a barrage of mortar hearth kill a minimum of 11 folks.
Images on social media confirmed a number of useless our bodies being collected after the assault. President Ashraf Ghani condemned the bloodbath, calling it a “crime against humanity”.
The ceremony was attended by most of the nation’s political elite, together with Afghanistan’s chief govt Abdullah Abdullah. The inside ministry later confirmed to reporters that “all the high-ranking officials were safely evacuated from the scene”. “We left the ceremony following the gunfire, and a number of people were wounded, but I do not have any reports of martyred people for now,” Hazara chief Mohammad Mohaqiq Afghan media.
