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Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC

Photo: Sean Hawkey/WCC

WCC general secretary Rev. Dr Olav Fykse Tveit condemns the terrorist attack claimed by so-called Islamic State that took place in Kabul on Saturday 23 July, apparently directed against a demonstration organised by the Hazara community of Afghanistan. The death toll has reached at least 80, with several hundreds injured. The casualities include a number of members of the Afghan security forces who were seeking to protect the demonstration.

Tveit said: “I grieve such a wicked and indiscriminate attack on ordinary human beings has taken place in Kabul. This is an attack on human life, human dignity and the human rights of all.”

The Hazara community is an ethnic minority within Afghanistan, and has often experienced discrimination or worse within that country, at least in part due to the adherence by most of the community to the Shi’i tradition of Islam.

“The deliberate targeting of such a group that was seeking peacefully to draw attention to perceived injustices and exclusion, is lamentable and tragic,” said Tveit.

The WCC offers its deepest condolences to the bereaved and injured.