At least three people were killed and eight others wounded in an explosion here on Monday near a protest site where hundreds of people, mostly members of the persecuted Shia minority Hazara, were demanding more security in the Hazara-dominated central and eastern districts of Afghanistan.

The blast occurred around 2 p.m. barely a few hundred metres from where demonstrators had gathered near Gulbahar commercial centre, Kabul police spokesperson Basir Mujahid told Efe news.