Protesters Call On Resignation of Afghanistan's President After Militant Group Beheads 9-Y-O Girl

Protesters have taken to the streets in Afghanistan after it was revealed that a nine-year-old girl was beheaded by extremists in the rural town of Zabul.

Protests broke out after suspected Islamic State militants allegedly beheaded nine members of the Hazara ethnic group, including a teenage girl and a nine-year-old girl whose bodies were discovered near Zabul.

Several Afghani citizens have demanded in recent days that the country's government do more to contain extremist groups.

According to The Washington Post, local and state officials have disagreed on whether the victims were attacked by members of the Islamic State, members of the local Taliban, or another rogue extremist group.

"The deliberate murder of civilian hostages, including women and children, is particularly abhorrent," United Nations Afghanistan official Nicholas Haysom said in a statement. "These senseless murders may amount to war crimes, and the perpetrators must be held accountable."

Thousands reportedly stormed the Presidential Palace this week as a form of protest against the killings, with protesters calling on the president's resignation for his failure to find the perpetrators of the heinous crime and bring them to justice.

President Ashraf Ghani responded in a statement saying: "I have instructed the authorities to make their best efforts to identify, arrest and punish the perpetrators."

Ghani added that the Islamic militants who carried out the crime are succeeding if the Afghanistan people remained divided with the government on the killing.

"They are deliberately attempting such evil actions to create division among our people," Ghani said of the Islamic militants. "We should not forget that we can take revenge and bring the culprits to justice only with our unity."