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Dozens killed in attack on political rally in Kabul Dozens killed in attack on political rally in Kabul
(about 5 hours later)
Assault highlights insecurity in Afghan capital in run-up to scheduled US withdrawalAssault highlights insecurity in Afghan capital in run-up to scheduled US withdrawal
At least 27 people have been killed in an attack on a political rally in Kabul in the deadliest assault in Afghanistan since the US signed a withdrawal deal with the Taliban. Gunmen opened fire on Friday at a ceremony in Afghanistan’s capital attended by prominent political leaders, killing at least 32 people and wounding dozens more before the two attackers were killed by police, officials said.
The attack highlights the glaring lack of security in the heavily fortified Afghan capital 14 months ahead of a scheduled withdrawal of all foreign forces under an agreement signed on 29 February by the US and Taliban. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement on its website.
The interior ministry spokesman, Nasrat Rahimi, said children were among the dead and a further 29 people were wounded, adding that “special forces units are carrying out clearance operations against the attackers”. Militants from Isis have declared war on Afghanistan’s Shias, and many of those at the ceremony were from the minority sect. The ceremony commemorated the 1995 slaying of Abdul Ali Mazari, the leader of Afghanistan’s ethnic Hazaras, who are mostly Shia Muslims.
“The figures will change,” he said. The Taliban said they were not involved in the attack, which came less than a week after the US and the group signed an ambitious peace deal that lays out a path for the withdrawal of American forces from the country.
Nizamuddin Jalil, a health ministry official, gave a slightly higher toll, saying 29 people had been killed and 30 others wounded. The interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said 32 people were killed and 81 wounded in the attack in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of Kabul. The health ministry gave the same death toll but said 58 were wounded. All of the casualties were civilians, Rahimi said.
The Taliban immediately denied responsibility for the assault, which occurred at the commemoration ceremony for Abdul Ali Mazari – a politician from the Hazara ethnic group, most of whom are Shia. The opposition leader Abdullah Abdullah, who is the country’s chief executive and was a candidate in last year’s presidential election, was among several prominent political officials who attended the ceremony but left before the attack.
At least 11 people died in a mortar attack on the same ceremony last yearfor which an Islamic State group claimed responsibility. Several TV journalists were covering the ceremony inside a walled compound when the gunmen began shooting, and a reporter and a cameraman for a local broadcaster were among the wounded.
Rahimi had earlier said that gunfire had erupted from a construction site near the ceremony in the city’s west, which is largely Shia. 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.
Photographs on social media showed several dead bodies being collected after the attack. Several witnesses said that, amid the panic, members of the security forces at the event had fired on civilians in the crowd. “Individuals with military uniforms who were there targeted people, there were casualties, dead and wounded, said Ghulam Mohammad, a witness, according to Associated Press video.
President Ashraf Ghani condemned the massacre, calling it a “crime against humanity”. Another survivor, Noor Mohammad, said: “Everyone was running. Three casualties were on the ground in front of me. I ran out of there to save my life.”
The ceremony was attended by many of the country’s political elite, including Afghanistan’s chief executive, Abdullah Abdullah. The interior ministry later confirmed to reporters that “all the high-ranking officials were safely evacuated from the scene”. After opening fire, the two gunmen fled to a half-finished apartment building, leading to a five-hour standoff with security forces. They were eventually killed and security forces cleared the building, Rahimi said. The area was cordoned off by dozens of security forces.
“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,” the Hazara leader Mohammad Mohaqiq told Tolo News. 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 Shia Hazara community.
The incident comes less than a week after the US and Taliban signed a deal that would pave the way for the complete withdrawal of foreign troops in 14 months. The US withdrawal hinges to a great extent on the Taliban being able to control jihadist forces such as the Islamic State group. Any US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan would be tied to promises by the Taliban to fight terrorism and Isis. During the withdrawal, the US would retain the right to continue counter-terrorism operations in the country.
If such groups remain, so too does the American military. The Taliban have been fighting Islamic State militants in its headquarters in eastern Afghanistan. US military officials have said Isis has been degraded because of US and Afghan operations but also by Taliban assaults. A US defence department official told the AP that there was concern that Isis was expanding its footprint into Kunar province, where the Taliban knows the terrain and could be an asset in tracking down Isis.
Since the signing of the much-trumpeted deal, fighting has continued to rage across Afghanistan, casting a pall over hopes the agreement would lead to a reduction in violence and talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government.
Isis, which follows a radical Sunni interpretation of Islam, first became active in Afghanistan in 2015 and for years held territory in the eastern province of Nangarhar. It has claimed responsibility for a string of horrific bombings, including several in Kabul targeting the city’s Shia community.
In recent months, the group has been hit by mounting setbacks after being hunted for years by US and Afghan forces along with multiple Taliban offensives targeting their fighters.
However, Isis remains in Afghanistan, notably in eastern Kunar province near the Pakistan border, which also neighbours Nangarhar, as well as in Kabul.