ISLAMABAD — A bomb went off Saturday in a minority Shiite neighborhood of the Afghan capital, killing not less than two folks and wounding 22, a Taliban official mentioned.
In keeping with Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for the Kabul police chief, the explosion occurred in western Kabul’s Puli-e Sokhta space. One of many wounded was in important situation, he added.
There was no fast declare of duty for the bombing, however blame is prone to fall on the Islamic State group, which has focused Afghanistan’s minority Shiites in large-scale assaults prior to now.
The regional affiliate of IS, often known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, has elevated assaults on mosques and minorities throughout the nation for the reason that Taliban seized energy final August.
IS, which emerged in japanese Afghanistan in 2014, is seen as the best safety problem dealing with the nation’s new Taliban rulers. Following their takeover a 12 months in the past, the Taliban have launched a sweeping crackdown on IS.
On Friday, a bomb hidden in a cart went off close to a mosque in one other Shiite space of Kabul, killing not less than eight folks and wounding 18. The Islamic State group claimed duty for that assault.
On Wednesday, a gunbattle between the Taliban and IS gunmen killed 5, together with two Taliban fighters, close to the Sakhi shrine within the Karti Sakhi neighborhood of the Afghan capital. The assault befell amid preparations for Ashoura, which commemorates the seventh century demise in battle of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Muhammad.
