Afghanis protest ISIS beheading of 9-year-old girl

'Death to Taliban and ISIS'

Roughly 20,000 protesters took to the streets in Afghanistan's capital, Kabul, on Wednesday to demand justice for seven Zabul province citizens who were kidnapped and beheaded over the weekend, the youngest of which was 9-year-old Shukria.

LOS ANGELES, CA (Catholic Online) - #Shukria has spread through Twitter as reports of the girl's death further enrage Afghanistan's citizens. 

Each of the seven victims were Hazaraz, a minority group composed mostly of Shia Muslims. One tweet by @smazify shows the young Shukria beautifully attired with the comment, "Her name is #Shukria which means thanks giving/thanks. What a slap to humanity. #ZabulBeHeading."

The protesters carried caskets for each victim, including a smaller one for Shukria, through the streets of Kabul, chanting "We want peace" and "Death to Taliban and ISIS." 

The group marched to the presidential palace and showed images of the victims with their throats slashed. and demanded President Ashraf Ghani resign. Police fired shots into the air in an attempt to disperse the thousands of protesters, resulting in several people fleeing the streets. The BBC reported seven protesters were injured.

Videos of the demonstration have been circulating the internet all day and have called more attention to the atrocities of the Taliban.

When fights began between rival factions of the Taliban, one beheaded the Hazaraz civilians -but which group is responsible has yet to be clarified. Many have claimed the demonstration is the largest in Kabul in the last fifteen years, and with good reason. 

The United Nations condemned the beheadings and called the murder of civilian hostages "particularly abhorrent."

Nicholas Haysom, secretary-general's special representative for Afghanistan, said, "These senseless murders may amount to war crimes and the perpetrators must be held accountable."

Afghan President Ghani condemned the murders as a "heartless killing of innocent individuals" and has reportedly assigned security services to investigate.

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