Afghan CEO Abdullah Abdullah's Twitter account hacked after protest rally attack

Kabul: Afghanistan’s chief executive officer Abdullah Abdullah’s Twitter account was hacked by unknown hackers, his office reportedly said on Saturday.

Javid Faisal, a spokesman for CEO Abdullah confirmed the hacking in a tweet which said, “CE Dr Abdullah’s Twitter Account @afgexecutive has been hacked by unknown hackers. Our press and IT teams are trying to restore it.”

A tweet posted by the hacker on the account read, “I prefer dangerous freedom over peaceful slavery,” and was hash-tagged #enlightenment #enlightenmentmovement, Khaama Press reported.

The Enlightenment Movement, comprising of civil society activists, took out a massive demonstration on July 23, participants of which had started the hashtags as a Twitter campaign.

The second largest rally in Kabul within the past two months, the demonstration was attacked, leaving at least 80 people dead and over 200 others wounded.

Three suicide bombers had joined the crowds to launch the attack. While one bomb was detonated, one of the bombers was killed by security forces before he could trigger the bomb. The third bomber also failed to detonate his device.

The demonstration was in protest against the change of the route of a massive power project from its original path of central provinces to Salang.

The attack took place shortly after participants gathered in Deh Mazang area of the city.

The 500kV power line project that the Afghanistan government intends to roll out will run from Turkmenistan through Salang to Kabul. The Enlightenment Movement wants the line to be routed through Bamiyan to Kabul, Tolo News reported

Though loyalists of the Islamic State claimed responsibility behind the incident, a commission has been formed by the Afghan government to investigate the attack.

Protesters, however, called for an independent and international probe.