Hundreds of disabled Afghans and relatives of those killed in fighting against the 1979-89 Soviet occupation of Afghanistan stage a rally here Saturday demanded compensation from Russia and government payouts.
Some 400 people including about 100 women gathered in front of the presidential palace chanting slogans demanding a better life.
"Russia should pay financial compensation to more than one million disabled Afghans who lost their limbs and those who lost their loved ones fighting against Soviet occupation of Afghanistan," one of the protesters Haji Rahimullah said.
The call for compensation to the victims of the anti-communist war came as Afghan Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah began an official visit to Russia.
Dozens of the demonstrators clad in white shrouds said they were ready to die if the government did not restore their rights.
Dressed in white shrouds, the demonstrators lined up in front of the main entrance to president Hamid Karzai's heavily fortified palace, threatening self-immolation if their demands were not accepted.
"We wore shrouds to either get our rights or set fire to ourselves," a protestor told AFP.
"We also want the government to fix a regular salary and give us residential plots so that we can live."
Hundreds of police deployed in the area blocked roads leading to the palace to prevent violence during the demonstration which lasted several hours.
Mohammed Yosuf Atibar, an official in charge of public affairs, later invited representatives for talks at the palace.
Before dispersing, the demonstrators adopted a resolution calling for monthly stipend, free education for their children, free medical facilities and free residential plots and agricultural land for the disabled.
They also proposed that Afghanistan's future ministers of martyrs and disabled be selected from among the people maimed in the anti-communist war.
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