Kabul Explosions: Several Dead In Blasts During Ethnic Hazara Protest

UPDATE: 7:54 a.m. — The death toll from Saturday's blast in Kabul went up to 29, according to local officials cited by Reuters. The attack that took place during a protest by ethnic Hazara community also injured 142 people.

Original story:

Blasts rocked the Afghan capital Kabul during a demonstration by ethnic Hazara community Saturday. At least 10 people have been killed in the attacks and several others injured, according to initial reports.

Local authorities said three suicide bombers were involved in the attack but only the first attacker detonated explosives. The suicide vest of the second bomber was defective and the third attacker was shot dead by security officials before he could blow himself up, Afghan news channel Tolo News reported on its Twitter feed. The exact number of blasts was not clear.

Pictures posted on social media showed bodies lying across the explosion site.

“The dead and wounded were taken to Istiqlal hospital near the blast scene,” ministry spokesman Mohammad Ismail Kawoosi told Agence France-Presse.

The Hazara people had organized the protest to demand a multimillion dollar regional electric power line to be routed through their impoverished home province of Bamyan in the northeastern part of Afghanistan. The power line is expected to run from Turkmenistan through Salang in northeastern Parwan province to Kabul. Bamyan is nearly 72 miles west from Parwan.