Blast in Kabul targets sit-in for Pakistani protesters

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan

At least eleven people were wounded in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast close to a sit-in camp being held in solidarity with Pakistani protesters in capital Kabul Saturday, according to local media and an official.

Afghan National Police spokesman Basir Mujahed told Anadolu Agency the blast took place in the Huzoori Garden area where a sit-in camp in solidarity with protesters in Pakistan was being held.

The spokesman said the IED was placed close to the sit-in camp that exploded at around 7 p.m. local time (02:30 GMT), leaving many people wounded. The camp was established two weeks ago in solidarity with the Pashtun Long March of Pakistan, he said.

Under the leadership of a young Pakistani, Mohammad Nazeer Pashteen, who hails from the restive tribal area of South Waziristan, scores of ethnic Pashtuns in Pakistan are agitating against the alleged high-handedness of the country's security forces.

Pajhwok Afghan News put the death toll at one and injury toll at 11.

So far, no group or individual has claimed the attack.