KUNDUZ, Afghanistan: Mourners from Afghanistan’s minority Shiite community buried their dead on Saturday after a suicide attack claimed by the Daesh group killed more than 60 people.
A gravedigger in the Shiite cemetery overlooking the northern city of Kunduz told AFP they had handled 62 bodies, and reports suggested a final toll of up to 100.
The blast targeted Friday prayers in the packed Sayed Abad mosque in the city, in an apparent attempt to stir trouble between Shiites and Afghanistan’s Sunni majority.
The Daesh group has claimed responsibility for the attack, which the new Taliban security forces in Kunduz said was carried out by a suicide bomber.
The hard-line Sunni movement has vowed to protect Shiites, who have faced persecution in Afghanistan in the past, but the community in Kunduz has been traumatized by the violence.
In the cemetery, Zemarai Mubarak Zada told AFP he had come to bury his 17-year-old nephew Milad, who had wanted to follow in his footsteps and become a doctor.
“He didn’t talk much, but he was very calm,” the 42-year-old said of Milad. “He used to make sure nobody was upset by what he said or did.
“We are really hurt by what happened. He wanted to get married. He wanted to go to university.”
After an Islamic prayer was sung, men with shovels put back the earth over Milad’s grave as a young boy wailed inconsolably. The heart-wrenching scene was repeated dozens of times.
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Afghan Shiites bury dead after Kunduz blast
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Afghan Shiites bury dead after Kunduz blast
- A gravedigger in the Shiite cemetery overlooking Kunduz told AFP they had handled 62 bodies, and reports suggested a final toll of up to 100
- The blast targeted Friday prayers in the packed Sayed Abad mosque in the city, in an apparent attempt to stir trouble between Shiites and Afghanistan's Sunni majority
France bans 10 British far-right, anti-migration activists from entering
PARIS: France’s interior ministry said on Wednesday it has banned 10 British far-right activists from entering or staying in the country, after they carried out actions deemed to incite violence and seriously disturb public order on French territory.
The activists, identified as members of a group called “Raise the Colors” that was involved in a national flag-raising campaign, seek to find and destroy boats used to carry migrants and spread propaganda on France’s northern coast calling on the British public to join the movement to stop migration, according to the French interior ministry.
“Our rule of law is non-negotiable, violent or hate-inciting actions have no place on our territory,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday.
The ministry said in a statement it had been informed of the group’s activities in December last year and that it had referred the matter to the relevant authorities, as the actions were likely to cause “serious disturbances” to public order.
“Raise the Colors” describes itself as a grassroots movement that began in the central English city of Birmingham, when a small group started tying national flags to lampposts in a show of national pride. It says the effort has since spread across the UK.
The widespread display of the red-and-white St. George’s Cross for England and the Union Jack for Britain has prompted concern among some migrant communities as a reflection of rising anti-immigration sentiment in the country, coinciding with a wave of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers last year.
Neither the group nor the British Foreign Office immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment.
Immigration and the crossings of small boats carrying migrants from France have become a focal point for British voters and has helped propel Nigel Farage’s right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party, into a commanding opinion poll lead.
Farage last year in London met the leader of French far-right National Rally (RN) party, Jordan Bardella, who has accused France of being too soft on immigration.
The activists, identified as members of a group called “Raise the Colors” that was involved in a national flag-raising campaign, seek to find and destroy boats used to carry migrants and spread propaganda on France’s northern coast calling on the British public to join the movement to stop migration, according to the French interior ministry.
“Our rule of law is non-negotiable, violent or hate-inciting actions have no place on our territory,” French Interior Minister Laurent Nunez wrote on social media platform X on Wednesday.
The ministry said in a statement it had been informed of the group’s activities in December last year and that it had referred the matter to the relevant authorities, as the actions were likely to cause “serious disturbances” to public order.
“Raise the Colors” describes itself as a grassroots movement that began in the central English city of Birmingham, when a small group started tying national flags to lampposts in a show of national pride. It says the effort has since spread across the UK.
The widespread display of the red-and-white St. George’s Cross for England and the Union Jack for Britain has prompted concern among some migrant communities as a reflection of rising anti-immigration sentiment in the country, coinciding with a wave of protests outside hotels housing asylum seekers last year.
Neither the group nor the British Foreign Office immediately responded to Reuters requests for comment.
Immigration and the crossings of small boats carrying migrants from France have become a focal point for British voters and has helped propel Nigel Farage’s right-wing, anti-immigration Reform UK party, into a commanding opinion poll lead.
Farage last year in London met the leader of French far-right National Rally (RN) party, Jordan Bardella, who has accused France of being too soft on immigration.
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