Hazara protest in Kabul after project rerouted

Thousands of Hazara protest in Kabul against a government decision to reroute a massive power transmission line that will deprive an area dominated by the ethnic group of the key infrastructure project.

Security forces reportedly blocked the main crossroads with stacked-up shipping containers on Monday to prevent the protesters from reaching the presidential palace.

Hazara lawmaker Arif Rahmani said the community wanted the power line to cross through Bamiyan, "which has seen no development in 15 years."

"We are demanding justice, not charity,” Rahmani said.

The 500-kilovolt TUTAP power line, which would connect the Central Asian countries of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan with Afghanistan and Pakistan, was initially meant to pass through Bamiyan.

Kabul later decided to shorten the route and have the power line established via the mountainous Salang pass north of the capital to accelerate the project.

Hazara leaders condemned the decision to reroute the project as a sign of the government's discriminatory policies, and criticized President Ashraf Ghani.

SS