Blast in Afghan capital Kabul kills 4 people

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) – At least four people were killed following a blast in the Afghan capital Kabul just days after twin blasts left at least 10 people dead here, officials said Thursday.

According to the Kabul police command, the incident took place at the Katib Hazara Street in the afternoon when a pick-up car carrying civilian passengers blew up after hitting a roadside explosive device.

It is the same area inhabited by the ethnic Shiite-Hazara minority, which witnessed back-to-back blasts on Tuesday, killing at least 10 people and injuring over 20 others. In the past few months, the community has been attacked in a spate of deadly assaults, including brazen attacks on a maternity home, a girls’ school and a number of other public places.

In a general debate on these attacks, members of the Wolesi Jirga (lower house) on Wednesday dubbed it as ‘ethnic genocide’. In their remarks, the parliamentarians demanded the government hand over security responsibilities to residents of the area.

The house’s deputy speaker, Ahmed Javed Jayhoun, called on the government to chalk out a compact security plan to particularly secure western parts of Kabul inhabited by the ethnic Shiite-Hazara community. “Regarding the escalation of violence in west of Kabul, the Wolesi Jirga calls on the government to take the security plan seriously and to inform the people and representatives of the people about the results of their actions.”

Many of these attacks have been claimed by the Daesh/ISIS terrorists.