Afghanistan: 27 killed, several injured as gunmen attack political rally in Kabul

At least 27 people were killed and 29 others were wounded after gunmen attacked a remembrance ceremony for a minority Shiite leader in Afghanistan's capital on March 6. The attack took place while Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah was addressing the crowd. Country's Interior Ministry spokesperson Nusrat Rahimi reportedly said that Abdullah managed to escape unhurt. Several other prominent leaders had also attended the event but managed to leave the site as Afghan security forces reportedly cordoned off the area. 

According to reports, the security forces also tried to target the gunmen who were hiding in a half-finished apartment building. However, Taliban has denied any involvement in the latest attack but it came just days after the militant group had signed a peace accord with the United States that laid out the conditions-based path to the full withdrawal of American troops from Afghanistan over the course of 14 months. However, fighting has raged across the country even after the “momentous” signing of the peace deal.

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Ghani condemns attack

Soon after the attack took place, according to reports, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani called it 'a crime against humanity'. The Islamic State group has attacked the Afghan Shiites in the past along with the views of the religious minority as heretics. The ceremony where the attack took place on March 6 was held in the mainly Shiite Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood of Kabul. The memorial reportedly marked the 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 reportedly moved to take control of Afghanistan's capital which had been destroyed by the civil war among mujahedeen groups, including Mazari's. 

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(With agency inputs)