Afghan President condemns slayings of Shias by Takfiri groups

President Ashraf Ghani condemned the gruesome slayings of seven members of a Shiite minority

Afghanistan’s President Ashraf Ghani condemned the gruesome slayings of seven members of a Shiite minority abducted in a southeastern province where rival Taliban factions are fighting one another.

The headless bodies of four men, two women and a child – all members of the Hazara minority – were found late on Saturday in the Arghandab district of Zabul province, which borders Pakistan.

Zabul provincial governor Mohammad Anwar Ishaqzai has blamed the so-called Islamic State group for the abductions and the killings. He said the victims had been kidnapped in neighboring Ghazni province over the past six months.

Ghani’s office said he was “profoundly saddened” by the killings and would convene a security meetingTuesday on the case.

This is the latest deadly incident in a wave of violence against the Shia Muslim community in the country. Hazara Shia Muslims have often been targeted by militant groups in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan.

The Hazara Shia Muslim community makes up about 22 percent of Afghanistan’s population.