Casualties are feared after a huge explosion rocked Kabul on Monday close to where scores of Afghans had been protesting against Taliban attacks on the minority Hazara ethnic group.
The blast struck in front of a high school in the downtown area of the Afghan capital, the interior ministry said.
A photo shared on the popular WhatsApp messaging app showed several bodies lying on the ground.
“It was a huge blast near Istiqlal high school, very close to where the demonstrators were gathering,” witness Qais Nawabi told AFP .
A police officer at the scene said he could see 10 to 15 casualties on the ground, as well as body parts.
“It is hard to see whether it was a suicide attack or a bomb [that had been planted],” he told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Hundreds of protesters, including university students, had taken to the streets of Kabul to demand the deployment of reinforcements to Hazara-dominated districts in Ghazni province which have been attacked by the Taliban .
