Gunmen killed at least 27 people and wounded at least 55 others in Afghanistan’s capital on Friday at a remembrance ceremony for a minority Shiite leader, officials said.

Heath Ministry spokesman Wahidullah Mayar said the injured had been taken to hospitals in Kabul. All of the casualties were civilians, said Interior Ministry spokesman Nasrat Rahimi.

Several prominent political leaders escaped the 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, Rahimi said. Dozens of Afghan security forces had cordoned off area.

The Taliban have denied they were behind the attack, and while no one has claimed responsibility for carrying it out, Afghanistan’s upstart Islamic State affiliate has declared war on the country’s minority Shiites. Most of the people attending the memorial service were Shiite.

The attack 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. Any U.S. 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 Shiite Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood 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 Shiite 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.

Related Stories
‹
Florida State Gunman Used Deputy Mom’s Former Service Weapon To Kill 2 and Wound 6, Authorities Say
The 20-year-old son of a sheriff’s deputy opened fire Thursday at Florida State University with his mother’s former service weapon, killing two men and wounding at least six others, investigators said.
A 15-Year-Old Girl Fatally Shoots a Teacher and a Teenager at a Christian School in Wisconsin
A 15-year-old student opened fire inside a study hall at a small Christian school in Wisconsin, killing a teacher and a teenager and prompting a swarm of police officers to descend on the school in response to a second grader’s 911 call.
James Crumbley, Who Bought Gun Used by Son To Kill 4 Students, Guilty of Manslaughter in Michigan
The father of a Michigan school shooter was found guilty of involuntary manslaughter Thursday, a second conviction against the parents.
Gunfire at Chiefs’ Super Bowl Celebration Kills 1 and Wounds Nearly Two Dozen, Including Children
Written by HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and NICK INGRAM A historic railway station on the edge of downtown Kansas City became the latest backdrop for a mass shooting as gunfire near the end of the Kansas City Chiefs’ Super Bowl celebration sent terrified fans scrambling for cover and left 21 people wounded — including at least eight children — […]
Las Vegas Shooting Suspect Was a Professor Who Recently Applied for a Job at UNLV, AP Source Says
Written by KEN RITTER and RIO YAMAT The man suspected of fatally shooting three people and wounding another at a Las Vegas university Wednesday was a professor who unsuccessfully sought a job at the school, a law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the investigation told The Associated Press. The gunman was killed in a […]
Why So Many Mass Killings? Families, Experts Seek Answers
Written by STEFANIE DAZIO and LARRY FENN More than five years after his son was gunned down in the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, Richard Berger still asks why. Why Stephen Berger was killed the day after celebrating his 44th birthday. Why the gunman rained bullets over the Las Vegas Strip in 2017, […]
Police Seek Motive of Gunman Who Killed 3 at Michigan State
Written by JOEY CAPPELLETTI and KEN KUSMER Police identified the 43-year-old man who killed three students and wounded five at Michigan State University, saying Tuesday that a tip from the public led to a confrontation with officers miles from campus where the gunman fatally shot himself. Investigators still were sorting out why Anthony McRae fired inside Berkey […]
Gunman in Lunar New Year Massacre Found Dead; Motive Unclear
Written by AMY TAXIN and DAMIAN DOVARGANES Authorities searched for a motive for the gunman who killed 10 people at a Los Angeles-area ballroom dance club during Lunar New Year celebrations, slayings that sent a wave of fear through Asian American communities and cast a shadow over festivities nationwide. The suspect, 72-year-old Huu Can Tran, was found […]
Witness: Walmart Employee Opened Fire in Break Room; 6 Dead
Written by ALEX BRANDON A Walmart manager opened fire on fellow employees gathered in the break room of a Virginia store, a witness said Wednesday. Six people died in the country’s second high-profile mass shooting in a handful of days. The gunman, who apparently killed himself, was dead when police found him, said Chesapeake Police […]
Rage and Sadness as Colorado Club Shooting Victims Honored
Written by THOMAS PEIPERT, JESSE BEDAYN and BRITTANY PETERSON Hundreds of people, many holding candles and wiping away tears, gathered in a Colorado Springs park to honor those killed and wounded when a gunman opened fire on a nightlife venue that for decades was a sanctuary for the local LGBTQ community. Monday night’s vigil came as the […]
›