ISIL-claimed blasts kill dozens in Kabul Hazara protest

Twin explosions targeting a large demonstration by members of Afghanistan's ethnic Hazara minority in Kabul have killed at least 80 people and wounded more than 230, officials have said.

The attack on Saturday, near one of the most heavily fortified areas of the Afghan capital, was quickly claimed by the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL, also known as ISIS), who have previously targeted the Hazara people.
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"Two fighters from Islamic State detonated explosive belts at a gathering of Shi'ites in... the city of Kabul in Afghanistan," Amaq, an ISIL-linked website, said.

However, an Afghan official told Al Jazeera that three people pledging allegiance to the armed group had carried out the attacks.

Graphic television footage from the site of the blasts showed charred bodies and dismembered limbs lying on a bloodied road in Deh Mazang circle, close to where thousands of the Hazara had been demonstrating over the route of a planned multimillion dollar power line.

Ambulances struggled to reach the scene, as authorities had overnight blocked key intersections with stacked shipping containers to control the movement of the protesters.



"I was in the crowd of protesters when a loud bang occurred nearby. Many people have been killed or injured - I am in deep shock," demonstration organiser Jawad Naji told the AFP news agency.

"We were holding a peaceful demonstration when I heard a 'Bang' and then everyone was escaping and yelling," said a female protester at the scene, her voice breaking.

"I saw many people were killed and most of them were covered with blood; there was nobody to help the victims."

Al Jazeera's Qais Azimy, reporting from Kabul, said it was one of the deadliest attacks in the capital in years.

"The city of Kabul is totally in a shock right now," he said.

"In the past ISIL has carried out attacks in the eastern part of the country, mainly suicide attacks, but not as far as Kabul - they were limited to Nangarhar province along the border with Pakistan," Azimy added.

"If it is true that ISIL is behind this attack it shows the growing capability of the group."

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In a statement, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said he was "deeply saddened" by the carnage, adding that the casualties included security officials.

The demonstrators had gathered to demand a multi-million-dollar power line pass through their electricity-starved province of Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan with a large Hazara population.

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.

But the government re-routed it through the mountainous Salang pass north of Kabul, saying the shorter route would speed up the project and save millions of dollars.

Hazara leaders in the country lashed out at the president, calling the decision prejudiced against their group.

The three million-strong Hazara community has been persecuted for decades, with thousands killed in the late 1990s by al-Qaeda and the Taliban.