KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Main roads across the Afghan capital Kabul have been blocked by authorities as thousands of ethnic Hazaras marched on Saturday through the city demanding a planned power line be rerouted through their poverty-stricken province.
Police moved trucks and containers into the city overnight Friday to block roads and prevent marchers reaching the city center or the presidential palace. Shops and other businesses were forced to close and movement around the city of 4.5 million people was severely restricted.
It was the second march held by members of the Hazara minority against the current route of a multi-million-dollar regional electricity line. The last one in May attracted tens of thousands of people, also shutting down the central business district.
On Saturday, the marchers – in vastly lower numbers than in May – walked and rode bicycles along their route from the largely Hazara neighborhoods of the city’s west.
They chanted slogans against President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, shouted “death to discrimination” and “all Afghans are equal.”