KABUL, Afghanistan -- Hundreds of people continued to protest for the third day Sunday near the site of a deadly bomb blast in Kabul, demanding greater security and the ousting of the U.S.-backed government of President Ashraf Ghani.
Protesters staged a sit-in under tents in the blazing heat -- while fasting for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- clapping and chanting "God is great" a few hundred yards from the crater where a truck bomb killed nearly 100 people Wednesday. About 500 anti-government protesters also rallied in the western city of Herat.
The peaceful protest went off in a capital that remains tense after anti-government protests Friday and a triple suicide bombing that killed 20 Saturday at a funeral for a protester, according to the Public Health Ministry. Protesters said they were angry the government could not keep the country safe, and demanded arrests of security forces who allegedly fired into the crowd Friday, killing six people.
"The duty of the government is maintaining of security. No one can prevent protests. Why were they not able to prevent the attacks with all the money and resources they have accumulated from the world? This shows their failure," said Jawed Kohistani, a retired general and military analyst who spoke at the demonstration.
An intelligence official for the National Directorate of Security said Sunday that agents had arrested a panicked, barefoot man who fled from the funeral bombing. They believe he may have been a fourth suicide bomber. The man left high-top sneakers fitted with explosive devices at the scene, the official said.
Ghani, in a video statement released Saturday evening, blamed "savage terrorists" trying to "break down the nation's spirit" for the violence.
"They want to create confusion, division, lack of confidence and a vacuum in the nation and the government," the president said. He promised changes in military and civilian sectors of the government and vowed to prosecute the "culprits" who fired on protesters.
Security experts say that if the protests catch hold and widen it could weaken Ghani's fragile coalition government, already worn thin by the Taliban insurgency and militants linked to the Islamic State.
About 200 protesters -- most of them from Afghanistan's Tajik ethnic group -- hunkered down under two tents on an avenue leading to the presidential palace Sunday in Kabul's diplomatic zone. Some had spent two nights there already, breaking their daily fast with the traditional iftar meal at the site.
They accused Ghani's government of killing the protesters and of orchestrating the suicide attacks to "wipe out" and "subdue" the Tajiks, the second-largest ethnic group after the Pashtuns, Afghanistan's traditional rulers.
Ghani, like most of the Taliban insurgents, is a Pashtun.
"They are bullying us, tearing us apart so that they can rule on us. This movement will become nationwide. Our blood from drops will become a river and will turn into a flood and will submerge our enemies," said Kabul University professor Faizullah Jalal, who spoke at the demonstration.
Organizers hope to expand the protest beyond the Tajik ethnic group to attract those from Uzbek and Hazara minorities as well.
One of the protesters, Rahim Frotan, 26, said he had spent three days and two nights at the protest because "we don't want any more suicide attacks in Kabul." He said Ghani's security team should be fired -- "they have all failed us."
The protesters had their own security. Abdul Hameed Khorasani, brandishing an assault rifle and several magazine bullets, said he expected more protesters will join the crowd today. Khorasani said they will put together their demands in a draft, but they will not back away from their key demand -- the end of Ghani's government.
In southern Kandahar province, at least six police officers were killed after two fellow officers opened fire on them, Afghan officials said.
Two provincial officials confirmed the Sunday attack, which they said also wounded the Kandahar City district police chief. Both spoke anonymously because they were not authorized to brief the media.
Qari Yusouf Ahmadi, a Taliban spokesman, claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement saying that both attackers were their men who joined the police rank just to carry out such an attack and both devoted their lives for their aim.
Information for this article was contributed by Annie Gowen, Sayed Salahuddin and Sharif Walid of The Washington Post and by staff members of The Associated Press.
A Section on 06/05/2017