ISLAMABAD — The Islamic State group has claimed accountability for a lethal capturing this week focusing on members of the nation’s minority Shiite group inside a mosque in western Afghanistan that killed six folks.
The militant group stated in an announcement posted on its Telegram web site late on Tuesday that one among its members attacked a “Shiite temple” in Herat province with machine-gun hearth. The assault, which befell on Monday night time within the district of Guzara, additionally left one particular person wounded.
The attacker fled the scene. The Taliban Inside Ministry has stated that an investigation is underway.
Native media reported that the mosque’s imam was amongst these killed. Afghanistan’s former President Hamid Karzai condemned the assault, saying on the social media platform X that he considers “this terrorist act towards all non secular and human requirements.”
The U.N. mission in Afghanistan additionally condemned the assault, saying a toddler was among the many victims. It referred to as for pressing accountability for perpetrators and safety measures for Shiite communities.
The IS affiliate in Afghanistan is a significant Taliban rival and often targets faculties, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas all through the nation.
The Taliban seized energy in Afghanistan in August 2021, over the past weeks of the chaotic departure of U.S. and NATO troops from the nation after 20 years of conflict.
Regardless of preliminary guarantees of a extra reasonable stance, the Taliban regularly reimposed a harsh interpretation of Islamic regulation, or Shariah, as they did throughout their earlier rule of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
