By Shadi Khan Saif
KABUL, Afghanistan (AA): At least nine people were killed and more than 20 others injured in a suicide attack in capital Kabul on Friday, according to officials and local media reports.
Nusrat Rahimi, deputy spokesman for Interior Ministry, told Anadolu Agency the suspected bomber detonated his explosives at a security barrier in the Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood in western Kabul.
The Islamic Unity Party of Afghanistan belonging to the mainly Hazara Shia Muslim community was marking the 23rd death anniversary of its slain leader Abdul Ali Mazari in the area when the blast took place, he added. Mazari was killed by the Taliban.
The event was attended by some of the country’s top politicians, including Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah and his deputy Mohammad Mohaqiq, a senior Hazara figure.
The death toll has risen to nine, Waheed Majroh, spokesman for the Health Ministry said.
Daesh claimed responsibility of the attack in a statement on its Amaq website.
The Afghan Shia community has been on the hit list of several terror groups in Afghanistan for several years.
President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani called the attack a crime against humanity. “The perpetrators deserve strongest sentence,” he said in a statement.
Additional report by The Muslim News
[Photo: Afghan security officials inspect the explosion site in Kabul, Afghanistan on March 9, 2018. Photographer: Haroon Sabawoon/AA]