KABUL – At least 30 people were killed whengunmen opened fire during a ceremony attended by country’s top politiciansin the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Friday.
Afghanistan’s Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah escaped unharmed, but atleast 55 people were injured, officials said.
This was the first major attack on the capital since the deal between theUS and Taliban was signed last Saturday. The Taliban denied responsibility.
The same event, commemorating the death of an Afghan Shia leader, wasattacked by Islamic State militants in 2019.
The shots were fired from a nearby building which is under construction,according to police. The ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of ethnicHazara leader Abdul Ali Mazari’s death at the hands of the Taliban wasbeing broadcast live, and people were seen fleeing as the sound of gunfirerang out.
Wahidullah Mayar, health ministry spokesman, said that “27 bodies” had beenrecovered.
Interior ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said women and children wereamong the dead. “The figures will change,” he said.
Nizamuddin Jalil, a health ministry official, gave a slightly higher toll,saying 29 people had been killed and 30 others wounded.
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The Taliban immediately denied responsibility for the assault, whichoccurred at the commemoration ceremony for Abdul Ali Mazari, a politicianfrom the Hazara ethnic group.
An Islamic State group-claimed attack on the same ceremony last year saw abarrage of mortar fire kill at least 11 people.
Photos on social media showed several dead bodies being collected after theattack. President Ashraf Ghani condemned the massacre, calling it a “crimeagainst humanity”.
The ceremony was attended by many of the country’s political elite,including Afghanistan’s chief executive Abdullah Abdullah. The interiorministry later confirmed to reporters that “all the high-ranking officialswere safely evacuated from the scene”.
“We left the ceremony following the gunfire, and a number of people werewounded, but I do not have any reports of martyred people for now,” Hazaraleader Mohammad Mohaqiq Afghan media.
