A number of blasts and gunfire hit a Sikh temple within the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday, a Taliban official and witnesses mentioned.
No less than two folks have been killed and 7 others injured after two gunmen assailed the temple in an hourslong assault, in keeping with Abdul Nafi Takor, a Taliban-appointed spokesperson for the Inside Ministry. He mentioned the assailants additionally died in preventing towards Taliban safety forces.
These killed included a Sikh worshipper and a member of the safety forces, he mentioned.
A automobile bomb additionally detonated within the space however brought about no casualties, Takor mentioned earlier.
Movies on social media confirmed black smoke emanating from the temple in Kabul’s Bagh-e Bala neighborhood. Gunfire will also be heard within the movies.
Who is likely to be behind the assault?
There was no instant declare of duty for the assault. Nevertheless, a regional affiliate of the extremist “Islamic State” (IS) group generally known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province has recently elevated assaults on mosques and minorities throughout the nation.
An assault claimed by the IS at one other Sikh temple in Kabul in 2020 killed 25.
The group is seen as the best safety problem dealing with the nation’s Taliban rulers, who’ve been clamping down on IS in japanese Afghanistan since seizing management of the nation in August final yr. Though IS is a Sunni Islamist group, just like the Taliban, the 2 are bitter rivals.
There are round 200 Sikhs now dwelling in Afghanistan beneath the rule of the Taliban. This compares with the half 1,000,000 adherents of the religion who lived within the nation within the Seventies.
tj/aw (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)