Many killed in the attack in Kabul

High-ranking politicians meet in Kabul for a memorial event, which includes government director Abdullah Abdullah. Then attackers open fire. The event was attacked in previous years.

Kabul (dpa) - At a memorial service for a former Shiite leader, at least 29 people were killed in the Afghan capital Kabul, including the two attackers. Another 55 people were injured in the attack on the event by high-ranking politicians, the Interior Ministry said on Friday.

Government director Abdullah Abdullah and other politicians also attended the event on Friday morning for prominent ex-Shiite Hasara community leader Abdul Ali Masari, officials said. According to the Abdullah spokesman, they were safe. Masari was the political leader of Hesb-e Wahdat Islami Afghanistan (Afghanistan's Islamic Unity Party). He was killed in 1995 by the militant Islamist Taliban.

A Taliban spokesman on Twitter immediately denied responsibility for the attack. The attack occurred almost a week after the US signed an agreement with the Taliban. This provides for all US and international troops to be withdrawn by the end of April next year, in return for the Taliban starting peace talks with the Afghan government - if the agreement does not fail. The Taliban also pledged that Afghanistan would no longer pose a threat to the security of the United States and its allies.

The terrorist militia Islamic State (IS) could also be behind the attack, but it has not yet committed itself to it. Since its appearance in Afghanistan, IS has carried out numerous attacks, particularly on Shiite mosques, city districts and assemblies. Sunni extremists like the members of the IS terror militia are fighting Shiites as apostates.

The attack on Friday took place in the mostly Shiite district of Dascht-e Barchi in western Kabul. There were attacks on celebrations in honor of Abdul Ali Masari in 2018 and 2019. Several people were killed. At that time, ISIS had acknowledged the attacks.

The most recent attack came from a higher building. An attacker was killed by police special forces, the Interior Ministry said. "The target of the attack was not clear, but Dr. Abdullah is now in a safe place," said the spokesman for the German Press Agency.

Shots and explosions were heard during the opening speech by Karim Chalili, the chairman of the High Peace Council in Afghanistan. Security circles said that the number of attackers was initially unknown. These are said to have fired at the assembly with rapid firearms.

"The attack is a crime against humanity and against Afghanistan's national unity," Afghanistan's President Aschraf Ghani tweeted. He also asked Abdullah and Chalili about their health in a phone call, Ghani wrote.

The federal government sharply condemned the fatal attack. The act was designed to prevent negotiations for a peace solution, a spokesman for the Federal Foreign Office said on Friday in Berlin. "Germany will continue to support Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism," he said.