Massive protest in Kabul over decapitation of Shia Hazaras

Thousands of protesters marched coffins containing the decapitated bodies of seven Shiite Hazaras through the Afghan capital Wednesday, demanding justice for a minority whose persecution by the Taliban they say is ignored by the government.

Demonstrators gathered in west Kabul and walked through the rain bearing the coffins draped in green to the gates of the presidential palace, where organisers said they were planning to stage a sit-in until their demands were met by the government.

Their numbers dwindled to dozens after warning shots were fired in the air Wednesday afternoon, though many people remained in the streets further from the palace, according to an AFP photographer.

The protest was unusual for Afghanistan in its scale and organisation, and was mostly peaceful.

Demonstrators carried pictures of the victims, including two women and one child -- a girl, whose coffin was carried by grieving women.

The three million-strong Afghan Hazara community has been persecuted for decades, with thousands killed in the late 1990s by Al-Qaeda and the mainly Pashtun Sunni Taliban.

"This is a protest to demand justice for the victims who were so mercilessly murdered, we demand justice for people who are being brutally killed by terrorists every day," protester Mohammad Hadi told AFP.

"We want revenge, today they kill us, tomorrow they kill you," the protesters chanted.

Kabul's deputy police chief Sayed Gul Agha Rohani did not confirm who had fired the warning shots or why, and the defence ministry said the armed forces had not opened fire.

A health ministry spokesman said seven people were injured during the demonstration, adding that "some" of them had received bullet wounds. He gave no further details on the injuries.

Rohani had earlier said no one had been injured as a result of the warning shots.

Caption: Protesters carry a coffin containing a decapitated body of one of seven Shia Hazaras,

Photo: Yahoo!