KABUL -- Speaking at an Ashura ceremony in the Dasht-e-Barchi area of Kabul Thursday (September 20), President Ashraf Ghani once again condemned recent attacks on the Shia community in Kabul and called on Afghans to unite against enemies' plan to incite a sectarian war.
"Sunni blood and Shia blood are the same colour, and the fates of Tajik, Pashtun and other groups are linked," reads Ghani's speech released by his press office.
"In this fight, we must stand by each other, put hands together and stay vigilant against gaps that are created in the name of religion, language and ethnicity," said Ghani, according to his published remarks.
In recent weeks, Afghan Shia have seen an uptick in violence against their community. Afghan forces arrested 26 suspected members of the "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" (ISIS) in Kabul before they could carry out planned suicide attacks during Ashura, officials said, according to a Tuesday (September 18) statement by Ghani's press office.
