| Uodated numbers for this story from yesterday. |
... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun...and other leading government officials.
"Stay calm, the area of the blast is far from us," said former lower house speaker Mohammad Younus Qanooni during a live broadcast of the event.
But moments after the announcement, another kaboom could be heard that sent people running for the exit.
A second unidenitifed voice then addressed the screaming crowd, saying: "I request my countrymen to stay calm. The mortar attack is far from the gathering."
The blasts happened during a ceremony marking the 24th anniversary of the death of Shiite Hazara
...a grouping of Dari-speaking people of Sino-Tibetan descent inhabiting Afghanistan and Pakistain. They are predominantly Shia Moslems and not particularly warlike, which makes them favored targets...leader Abdul Ali Mazari that was attended by many of the country's political elite, including Abdullah and former President Hamid
Maybe I'll join the TalibanKarzai
...A product, and probably the sole product, of the
Southern Alliance...
Foreign Minister Salahuddin Rabbani ‐ who was at the scene ‐ later tweeted "gunnies launched rocket attacks on commemoration ceremony", and said he had escaped safely.
There was conflicting information as to the casualty figures in the immediate aftermath of the blasts.
A short while later, Health Ministry official Mohaibullah Zaeer said an initial check of Kabul’s hospitals revealed three people have been killed and 32 maimed in the attack but he said the figures were not final.