ISIS is claiming responsibility for killing dozens of people during a peaceful demonstration by a minority group in Kabul, Afghanistan, Saturday.
"I saw tens of
people laying down in blood around me and hundreds of people running
away from the scene," said Fatima Faizi, an Afghan freelance journalist.
So far, 64 bodies and more than 260
wounded people were taken to hospitals in Kabul, according to Ismail
Kawoosi, a spokesman for the Afghan Health Ministry
The
attack, the worst in terms of casualties in several weeks, drew
attention to ISIS instead of the Taliban, which had been credited with
recent bombings.
Two ISIS fighters detonated their suicidebelts among the protesters, according to ISIS' media wing, Amaq.
The
jihadist terrorist group has been stepping up attacks worldwide -- and
most recenlty in Afghanistan -- while losing territory in its
self-proclaimed caliphate in Iraq and Syria.
The
blast in Kabul on Saturday afternoon happened during a demonstration by
members of the Hazara, a Shiite minority group, near the Afghan
Parliament building and Kabul University.
The group was demanding a large power
project that could potentially ensure a power supply through their home
Bamyan province, a relatively isolated area west of Kabul.
Accounting
for up to one-fifth of Afghanistan's population, Hazaras, a
Persian-speaking people who mainly live in central Afghanistan, have
long been branded outsiders for their Shia faith and far Asian features
in the country dominated by followers of the Sunni branch of Islam,
according to a 2008 Nation Geographic articles.
The
Hazara in the past have demanded the government protect them from
attacks that they have blamed on the Sunni Taliban and ISIS.
On
November 11, thousands of protesters marched through Kabul with coffins
containing the decapitated bodies of seven Hazaras, four men, two women
and one child. The protesters demand justice for the beheadings,
chanting slogans seeking death for the Taliban and ISIS.
Protesters in November march with coffins of decapitated Hazaras in Kabul.
Saturday's
attack is the latest in a rash of kidnappings and bombings in Kabul,
which have heightened security fears in the nation's capital.
The Taliban have claimed responsibility for other recent attacks
Three weeks ago, two Taliban suicide bombers killed 34 people when they attacked a convoy of buses carrying newly graduated police officers in Kabul.
Taliban attack kills dozens in Kabul 02:49
On June 20 in the Afghan capital, a surcide bomber killed 14 Nepali security contractors who worked for the Canadian embassy.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for that attack in a text message sent to media organizations.
Taliban claim deadly blast in Kabul 01:50
U.S. and other diplomats were barred from traveling by road the short
distance from the city's international airport to their diplomatic
missions. Instead, they are ferried by helicopter.
Meanwhile,
the 14-year war against the Taliban in the countryside is as bloody as
ever. While the Taliban is the dominant insurgent force in the central
Asia country, ISIS has been establishing a presence.
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