03 June, 2017
Explosions in Kabul have killed at least four people at a funeral reportedly attended by government officials, including members of parliament, Afghan officials have said.
Demonstrators had been protesting against the government over its security record following the explosion of a huge truck bomb that killed more than 80 people and wounded 460.
Alam Ezadyar is deputy speaker for the upper house of the country's parliament.
Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) issued a strongly worded statement on Wednesday, cancelling the two friendly T20I matches it promised to play against Pakistan in light of a truck bombing in the city's diplomatic quarter that killed at least 90 people.
At least four people were killed and 15 wounded in the gunfire, drawing condemnation from human rights group Amnesty International and leading the United Nations envoy in Afghanistan to appeal for calm.
A demonstration in downtown Kabul that left several people dead has entered a second day.
"Afghanistan's deputy interior minister, Murad Ali Murad, says some of the protesters were carrying weapons, and that police fired in self-defense".
Hundreds of demonstrators calling for President Ashraf Ghani to step down clashed with police on Friday, prompting officials to beat them back with live rounds in the air, tear gas and water cannon. Police said Friday two protesters were killed and 25 police injured but would not comment on the number of fatalities when asked to clarify the death toll Saturday.
This comes after security forces opened fire on protestors in the Wazir Akbar Khan area of Kabul city on Friday.
As well as criticising the government, some protesters demanded that Ghani execute prisoners from the Haqqani network, the Taliban-affiliated militant group that intelligence officials blame for the attack.
Most of the casualties from Wednesday's massive truck bombing were civilians, including women and children, officials have said. "It is a matter of regret that Afghans are killed in suicide terrorist attacks and demonstration similarly", a political analyst Zarif Nasiri told local media.
The dead also included Afghan security guards at the facilities, including the US Embassy, and 11 American contractors were wounded - none with life-threatening injuries, a US State Department official said.
Public anger has been mounting since a devastating truck bomb explosion Wednesday at the beginning of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
A policeman rests during a demonstration in Kabul, Afghanistan, Friday, June 2, 2017.
