Afghan President Hamid Karzai has called on Muslims to unite against ‘tyrants’ carrying out a wave of suicide attacks in the region under the name of Islam.
'Muslim nations should work together to safeguard their religion,' Karzai said. He was speaking to about 2,000 people gathered at a Kabul mosque for Ashura ceremonies to mourn the death of the Prophet Mohammed's grandson in the 7th century.
‘Our duty, the duty of Islamic nations and particularly the people of this region, is that we must join hands against those tyrants who, by killing themselves, kill...Muslims under the cover and the name of Islam,’ he said.
Hundreds of people, mostly civilians, were killed in Afghanistan last year in more than 140 suicide attacks predominantly carried out by the extremist Taliban.
In the most recent attack in the capital, several Taliban gunmen and suicide bombers stormed the five-star Kabul Serena hotel on Monday and killed at least eight people, including three foreigners.
Pakistan, where many hardliners fled after the Taliban government was toppled in 2001, has also been hit by an increasing number of such attacks.
