Islamic State claims responsibility for deadly Kabul blast

Islamic State (ISIS) has said it was behind an attack on a protest march in the Afghan capital, Kabul, that killed 80 people and wounded 230.

The ISIS-linked Amaq news agency said two fighters "detonated explosive belts at a gathering of Shia" in Kabul.

The attack in Deh Mazang square targeted thousands from the Shia Hazara minority who were protesting over a new power line, saying its route bypasses provinces where many of them live.

The Taliban have condemned the attack.

Spokesperson Zabiullah Mujaheed sent an e-mail to the media saying they were not behind it.

Self-styled ISIS has a presence in eastern Afghanistan but has not previously admitted carrying out assaults in the capital.

The demonstrators had gathered to demand a multi-million-dollar power line pass through their electricity-starved province of Bamiyan, one of the most deprived areas of Afghanistan with a large Hazara population.

The 500-kilovolt TUTAP power line, which would connect the Central Asian nations of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan with electricity-hungry Afghanistan and Pakistan, was originally set to pass through the central province.

But the government re-routed it through the mountainous Salang pass north of Kabul, saying the shorter route would speed up the project and save millions of dollars.

Hazara leaders in the country lashed out at the president, calling the decision prejudiced against their group.

The three million-strong Hazara community has been persecuted for decades, with thousands killed in the late 1990s by al-Qaeda and the Taliban.