What the Afghan protests are really about

Hazara killings have galvanised Afghans into standing up against extremism and government negligence.

Afghan women carry the coffin of a nine-year-old girl as thousands march in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday [AP]

Nadir Naim is an Afghan politician. He was a candidate in the 2014 Afghan presidential elections.

On Wednesday, thousands of Afghan protesters poured on to the streets of Kabul and gathered at Pashtunistan Square just outside the Presidential Palace. Carrying the coffins of seven beheaded Afghans, they demanded justice and security. It was by far the biggest demonstration the city had seen in recent history.
The victims were from the ethnic minority Hazara community from the Jaghrori district of Ghazni province. This massacre took place between November 6 and 8 in the Arghandab district of Zabul. The victims had been abducted about a month earlier while on their way to Ghazni, according to a statement issued by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). The bodies of the victims were transferred to Kabul late last night by their families and supporters to seek justice in the capital from the National Unity Government.

Kabul protest against brutal Hazara killings

The demonstrators expressed anger over the indiscriminate killing of seven innocent civilians. They accused the government of negligence, not only in this latest incident but in a series of horrific events since February 23, when 30 men (again from the Hazara community) were taken hostage by a group of fighters. Although 19 of those hostages were returned after the Afghan Government intervened, at least four people in the group were killed and another six are still missing.