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Gunmen kill at least 27 at memorial for Afghan Shiite leader Gunmen kill at least 29 at ceremony in Afghan capital
(about 1 hour later)
KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunmen killed at least 27 people and wounded at least 55 others in Afghanistan’s capital on Friday at a remembrance ceremony for a minority Shiite leader, officials said. KABUL, Afghanistan — Gunmen opened fire Friday at a ceremony in Afghanistan’s capital attended by prominent political leaders, killing at least 29 people and wounding dozens more before the two attackers were slain by police, officials said.
Heath Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said the injured had been taken to hospitals in Kabul. All of the casualties were civilians, said Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi. The Taliban denied they were behind the attack, which came less than a week after the U.S. and the group signed an ambitious peace deal that lays out a path for the withdrawal of American forces from the country.
Several prominent political leaders escaped the ceremony unhurt, including Abdullah Abdullah, the country’s chief executive and a top contender in last year’s presidential election. While no one has claimed responsibility for the bloodshed, Afghanistan’s upstart Islamic State affiliate has declared war on the country’s minority Shiites. Many of those at the ceremony were Shiites because it was commemorating the 1995 slaying of Abdul Ali Mazari, the leader of Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazaras, who are mostly Shiite.
Afghan security forces were still trying to flush the gunmen out of a half-finished apartment building, Rahimi said. Dozens of Afghan security forces had cordoned off area. There were conflicting accounts of the number of casualties in the attack in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of Kabul. The Health Ministry reported 32 people were killed and 58 were wounded, while the Interior Ministry reported 29 dead and 61 wounded. There was no immediate explanation for the discrepancy.
The Taliban have denied they were behind the attack, and while no one has claimed responsibility for carrying it out, Afghanistan’s upstart Islamic State affiliate has declared war on the country’s minority Shiites. Most of the people attending the memorial service were Shiite. Opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, who is the country’s chief executive and was a top contender in last year’s presidential election, was among several prominent political officials who attended the ceremony but left before the attack and were unhurt.
The attack came just days after the United States and the Taliban signed an ambitious peace deal that lays out a conditions-based path to the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan. Any U.S. troop pullout would be tied in part to promises by the Taliban to fight terrorism and IS. Several TV journalists were covering the ceremony inside an walled compound when the gunmen began shooting, and a reporter and a cameraman for a local broadcaster were among the wounded.
Friday’s ceremony was held in the mostly Shiite Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of the capital, Kabul. Karim Khalili, the chief of Afghanistan’s high peace council, was delivering a speech when the gunfire interrupted him. He was not hurt and later went on TV to denounce the violence.
The memorial marked 25 years since the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, the leader of Afghanistan’s minority ethnic Hazaras, who are mostly Shiite Muslims. He was killed in 1995 by the Taliban as they moved to take control of Kabul, which had been destroyed by a brutal civil war among mujahedeen groups, including Mazari’s. Several witnesses said that,amid the panic, members of the security forces guarding the event had fired at civilians in the crowd.
“Individuals with military uniforms who were there targeted people, there were casualties, dead and wounded,” said witness Ghulam Mohammad, according to Associated Press video.
Another survivor, Noor Mohammad, told AP that: “Everyone was running. Three casualties were on the ground in front of me. I ran out of there to save my life.”
After opening fire, the two gunmen holed up in a half-finished apartment building, leading to a five-hour standoff with security forces. The gunmen were eventually killed and security forces were clearing the building, Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said. The area was cordoned off by dozens of security forces.
All of the casualties were civilians, Rahimi said.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the deadliest attack in Kabul last year, when a suicide bomber killed 63 people and wounded 182 at a wedding. All were from the Shiite Hazara community.
Any U.S. troop pullout from Afghanistan would be tied in part to promises by the Taliban to fight terrorism and IS. During the withdrawal, the U.S. would retain the right to continue its counterterrorism operations in the country.
The Taliban have been fighting Islamic State militants in its headquarters in eastern Afghanistan. U.S. military officials have said IS has been degraded because of U.S. and Afghan operations but also by Taliban assaults. A U.S. Defense Department official told the AP that they worried IS was expanding its footprint into Kunar province, where the Taliban knows the terrain and could be an asset in tracking down IS.
Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.