Gunmen kill at least 27 at Kabul memorial in Afghanistan, Taliban deny involvement

At least 27 people are dead after gunmen opened fire at a remembrance ceremony for a Shi'ite leader in Kabul.

British soldiers stand guard at the site where gunmen attacked a political gathering in Kabul, Afghanistan, 06 March 2020. Source: EPA

Gunmen have killed at least 27 people and wounded 29 more in Afghanistan's capital at a remembrance ceremony for a minority Shi'ite leader.

Several prominent political leaders escaped the Friday ceremony unhurt, including Abdullah Abdullah, the country's chief executive and a top contender in last year's presidential election.

Afghan security forces were still trying to flush the gunmen out of a half-finished apartment building, Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi said.

Afghan security forces personnel stand guard on a road near the site of a gun attack that occurred during an event ceremony on March 6, 2020 Source: AFP

The Taliban denied involvement in the attack.

It came just days after the United States and the Taliban signed an ambitious peace deal that lays out a conditions-based path to the withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan.

The Islamic State group has attacked Afghan Shi'ites in the past and views the religious minority as heretics.

Any US troop pullout would be tied in part to promises by the Taliban to fight terrorism and IS.

Friday's ceremony was held in the mostly Shi'ite Dasht-e-Barchi area of the capital, Kabul.

The memorial marked 25 years since the death of Abdul Ali Mazari, the leader of Afghanistan's minority ethnic Hazaras, who are mostly Shi'ite Muslims.

He was killed in 1995 by the Taliban as they moved to take control of Kabul, which had been destroyed by a brutal civil war among mujahedeen groups, including Mazari's.