Islamic State claims responsibility for suicide bombing in Kabul
Sep 03, 2024
Kabul [Afghanistan], September 3 : Islamic State (IS), also known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) on Tuesday claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in Kabul that resulted in six people losing their lives, Al Jazeera reported.
Notably, an explosion in Kabul on Monday killed at least six people, and injured 13 others, the Kabul police and Ministry of Interior Affairs said.
Sharing a post on X on Monday, Khalid Zadran, Kabul police spokesman had said, "An explosion occurred in the 6th security zone of Kabul this afternoon in the area of Qala-e-Bakhtiar, which was caused by explosives carried by a person. Unfortunately, six people, including a woman, were killed and 13 others were injured in the blast. The injured were taken to hospital and investigations are underway."
In a Telegram post on Tuesday, ISIL (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant) said one of its members detonated an explosive vest in the Afghan capital the previous day (Monday), targeting the Taliban government's prosecution service.
The bomber waited until government employees finished their shifts and then detonated the explosive in the middle of a crowd, the post said, according to Al Jazeera.
ISIL claimed that the attack resulted in the deaths of more than 45 people and was revenge for "Muslims held in Taliban prisons."
Notably, the most notorious attack linked to ISIL since the Taliban takeover was in 2022 when at least 53 people, including 46 girls and young women, were slain in the suicide bombing at an education centre in a Shia neighbourhood of Kabul. For which, the Taliban officials blamed ISIL for the attack.
A United Nations Security Council report released in January stated that there had been a decrease in ISIL attacks in Afghanistan because of "counter-terrorism efforts by the Taliban". But the report also said that ISIL still had "substantial" recruitment in the country and that the armed group had "the ability to project a threat into the region and beyond".
While violence has decreased in Afghanistan since the Taliban's 2021 takeover, ISIL's affiliate in the Khorasan region - Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) - still remains active.
The ISIL's chapter spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan and Central Asia had also claimed responsibility for the March attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Moscow, where over 140 people were killed, marking the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades, Al Jazeera had reported.