At least 15 Afghans killed as multiple blasts target funeral for protester in Kabul

KABUL — At least 15 Afghans were killed when three back-to-back explosions ripped through a funeral Saturday held for one of the demonstrators killed during anti-government protests Friday, authorities said.

About 700 mourners at a hillside cemetery in the northern part of Kabul were in the middle of the funeral prayers for a prominent politician’s son when three suicide bombers among the mourners detonated explosives, Abdullah Abdullah, the nation’s chief executive, who was at the service, said at a news conference.

The blasts left body parts scattered among the graves, witnesses said. About 80 people were injured, including some high-ranking Afghan officials. A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said that the death toll was 15, but it is expected to rise.

“People were standing to pray when the three blasts happened,” said one of the mourners, Tahir Gardoon, a professor of political science at Khurshid University. “People were screaming, running, everywhere was fear.”

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the act, calling it “an outrageous attack on mourners burying the martyred. The country is under attack. We must be strong and united.”

Read the whole story from The Washington Post.

Featured image courtesy of AP