Accessibility links

Breaking News

Security Forces Fire Into Air Amid Kabul Protest Over Bombing


Afghanistan - An Afghan woman chants slogans during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan June 2, 2017
Afghanistan - An Afghan woman chants slogans during a protest in Kabul, Afghanistan June 2, 2017

Reports say Afghan security forces have fired into the air near a crowd of protesters demanding the resignation of President Ashraf Ghani's government following a truck-bomb attack that killed at least 90 people in Kabul.

More than 1,000 protesters gathered on June 2 near the site of the May 31 morning rush-hour bombing, which also wounded more than 460 people.

The Reuters news agency said security forces fired into the air as some protesters attempted to cross a police cordon. No casualties were immediately apparent.

Another report said protesters continued to march toward the presidential palace after the shots were fired, but that many demonstrators had left.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the deadliest bombing in the capital since the U.S.-led invasion that drove the Taliban from power in 2001.

The Taliban has denied responsibility.

Reuters has reported that Afghanistan's main intelligence agency, the National Directorate for Security, believes it was carried out by the Taliban-affiliated Haqqani network with assistance from Pakistan -- a charge also leveled by some former Afghan officials.

With reporting by Reuters and Tolo News

  • 16x9 Image

    RFE/RL

    RFE/RL journalists report the news in 27 languages in 23 countries where a free press is banned by the government or not fully established. We provide what many people cannot get locally: uncensored news, responsible discussion, and open debate.

XS
SM
MD
LG