KABUL – A suicide bomber killed at least 10 people at the entrance to Kabulinternational airport today, officials said, as scores gathered to welcomehome Afghan Vice President Abdul Rashid Dostum from exile.

Senior government officials, political leaders and supporters were leavingthe airport after greeting the powerful ethnic Uzbek leader and formerwarlord when the explosion happened.

Dostum, clad in a Western suit and sunglasses and travelling in an armouredvehicle, was unharmed, said his spokesman Bashir Ahmad Tayanj.

“We can confirm 10 people have been killed or wounded in the explosioncaused by a suicide attacker on foot,” said interior ministry spokesmanNajib Danish, without giving a breakdown.

He said civilians including a child and security force members were amongthe casualties.

Dostum, who is linked to a catalogue of human rights abuses in Afghanistan,was mobbed like a celebrity as he left the chartered plane from Turkeywhere he has lived since May 2017.

His return, which has been the subject of much speculation, comes amidviolent protests in several provinces across northern Afghanistan, histraditional power base.

Thousands of Dostum’s supporters have taken to the streets in recent weeks,shuttering election and government offices and blocking sections ofhighways to demand the release of a pro-government militia leader and callfor Dostum’s return.

Expectations of the return did little to quell the unrest, with protestersvowing Sunday to continue demonstrating until the burly leader of the Uzbekethnic minority tells them otherwise.

“We don’t trust the government. We will continue our protests unlessGeneral Dostum tells us to stop,” Ehsanullah Qowanch, a protest leader inFaryab province, told AFP.

Qowanch also repeated calls for the release of Nezamuddin Qaisari – adistrict police chief and Dostum’s provincial representative in Faryab -whose arrest earlier this month ignited the protests.

Another protester, Massoud Khan, said: “We have been on the streets for 20days now. We are not going to stop our protests unless our demands aremet.” Observers say President Ashraf Ghani, an ethnic Pashtun, gave thegreen light for Dostum to come home to stabilise the north and secure Uzbeksupport before next year’s presidential election, which he is widelyexpected to contest.

Dostum left Afghanistan in May 2017 after he was accused of organising therape and torture of a political rival.

He had denied the allegations and said his departure was for medicalcheck-ups and family reasons.

Ghani in 2009 described Dostum as a “known killer”. Yet he chose him as hisrunning mate in the 2014 presidential election, underlining the sometimesuncomfortable ethnic realities of Afghan politics.

Presidential spokesman Haroon Chakhansuri said Saturday that Dostum hadbeen “treated” and would resume his duties upon his return.

Seven of Dostum’s bodyguards have been convicted of the sexual assault andillegal imprisonment of Ahmad Ishchi, a former governor of the northernprovince of Jowzjan, in 2016.

Dostum allegedly had Ishchi abducted in Jowzjan and then kept him hostagein his private compound for several days, where the captive was said tohave been tortured and sodomised.