© Reuters. A Taliban fighter walks right into a home broken by the explosions, after an explosive-laden automobile detonated amidst an assault on a Sikh temple in Kabul, Afghanistan, June 18, 2022. REUTERS/Ali Khara
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(This June 18 story corrects to say Indian ruling celebration spokeswoman, not Indian authorities spokeswoman, in 2nd paragraph)
By Mohammad Yunus Yawar
KABUL (Reuters) – An assault claimed by Islamic State on a Sikh temple within the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday killed no less than two individuals and injured seven, officers stated, one other lethal incident in a spate of violence focusing on minorities and locations of worship.
On an affiliated Telegram channel, the native department of Islamic State stated the assault was in response to insults leveled on the Prophet Mohammed, an obvious reference to remarks by an Indian ruling celebration spokeswoman which have been condemned by many Muslim-majority nations.
Gray smoke billowed over the realm in photographs aired by home broadcaster Tolo. A Taliban inside spokesman stated attackers had laden a automobile with explosives nevertheless it had detonated earlier than reaching its goal.
A temple official, Gornam Singh, stated there have been round 30 individuals contained in the constructing on the time.
A spokesman for Kabul’s commander stated one Sikh worshipper had been killed within the assault and one Taliban fighter was killed as his forces took management of the realm.
Since taking energy in August, the Taliban say they’ve elevated safety in Afghanistan and eliminated the nation from militant threats, though worldwide officers and analysts say the danger of a resurgence in militancy stays.
Islamic State has claimed some assaults in latest months.
The group stated a suicide attacker stormed the temple on Saturday morning armed with a machine gun and hand grenades after killing its guard.
Different militants fought for greater than three hours with Taliban fighters who tried to intervene to guard the temple, focusing on them with 4 explosive gadgets and a automobile bomb, the militant group stated.
The blast on Saturday was broadly condemned as one among a sequence of assaults focusing on minorities, with a press release from neighbouring Pakistan saying its authorities was “severely involved on the latest spate of terrorist assaults on locations of worship in Afghanistan.”
The U.N.’s mission to Afghanistan stated in a press release that minorities within the nation wanted to be protected and India’s President Narendra Modi stated on Twitter (NYSE:) he was “shocked” by assault.
Sikhs are a tiny non secular minority in largely Muslim Afghanistan, comprising about 300 households earlier than the nation fell to the Taliban. Many have since left, based on members of the neighborhood and media.
Like different non secular minorities, Sikhs have been a continuous goal of violence in Afghanistan. An assault at one other temple in Kabul in 2020 that killed 25 was additionally claimed by Islamic State.
Saturday’s explosion adopted a blast at a mosque within the northern metropolis of Kunduz the day past that killed one individual and injured two, based on authorities.
