ZCZC
BFF-33
AFGHANISTAN-UNREST-BLAST-NAWROOZ
At least six killed in blasts as Kabul marks Persian New Year
KABUL, March 21, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least six people were killed by
blasts in Kabul Thursday during Persian New Year celebrations in a Shiite
area of the Afghan capital, authorities said, in the latest violence to hit
the war-torn city.
“Twenty-three were wounded and six people were martyred (killed) in today’s
explosions in Kabul,” health ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar told AFP,
with the interior ministry confirming the toll.
In a message to AFP, the Taliban denied responsibility for the attack,
which police said had been caused by three remote-controlled mines — one
placed in the washroom of a mosque, one behind a hospital, and one in an
electricity meter.
The blasts were near Kabul University and the Karte Sakhi shrine, where
many Afghans gather every year to mark Nawrooz, which is the traditional
Persian New Year holiday but considered un-Islamic by Muslim fundamentalists.
“As we celebrate this auspicious day to bind us together our fellow
citizens witnessed another devastating day in #Kabul,” President Ashraf Ghani
wrote on Twitter.
“We lost peaceful citizens to a coward enemy that knows no bounds.”
Kabul police spokesman Basir Mujahid said a fourth mine was defused near
Kabul University, and that authorities were searching for any others that may
have been placed in the area.
But he added that the mines were far from the main site of the
celebrations. Exactly one year ago, a blast near a crowd celebrating at the
shrine killed 33 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State group.
IS, which regularly targets Shiites in an attempt to stir up sectarian
violence in Sunni-majority Afghanistan, has also attacked the shrine once
before, in October 2016, when its gunmen killed 18 people gathered there to
mark Ashura, an important date for many Muslims, especially Shiites.
BSS/AFP/RY/13:45 hrs