25 civilians killed, 8 hurt in suicide attack on Kabul gurdwara

Kabul

Afghan security forces inspect near the site of an attack in Kabul, Afghanistan March 25, 2020.REUTERS/Mohammad Ismail

Afghan and foreign security forces were reported to have killed four unidentified gunmen and suicide bombers who attacked a Sikh religious complex in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least 25 civilians, mostly Sikhs.

A child’s body was also recovered from the complex. Total deaths among the worshippers were believed to be 25. Eight were were wounded in the attack at the multistoreyed ‘Dharamshala’, as the gurdwara is called in Kabul, the Ministry of Interior confirmed, adding that “80 people, including women and children, were rescued”.

An official with Afghanistan’s NATO mission said the response to the attack had been led and executed by Afghan forces but they had received some advice and assistance from NATO.

TOLO News, an Aghan online news group, said the attackers were neutralised in a six-hour operation.

“At least 25 people were killed and 8 others were wounded in the attack at Dharamshala, a Sikh worship place in Kabul,” TOLOnews quoted the Ministry of Interior as saying.

Afghan security forces had blocked off the area and were taking on the attackers, Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said in a message to journalists.
The Islamic State group has claimed the attack, according to the SITE intelligence group, in the latest assault. Earlier, the country’s main militant group, the Taliban, denied involvement in the attack.

Narender Singh Khalsa, a member of parliament who represents the tiny Sikh community, said he had reports that four people had been killed and up to 200 people trapped inside the temple in Shor Bazar area of Kabul in the early morning attack.”The gunmen started their attack at a time when the dharamsala was full of worshippers,” he said.
The attack comes a day after the United States said it would cut its aid to the government by $1 billion over frustrations that feuding political leaders could not reach an agreement and form a team to negotiate with the Taliban.
Sikhs are a small religious minority in Afghanistan with numbers fewer than 300 families.

In 2018, a suicide bombing targeting the Sikh community and claimed by the Islamic State militant group killed more than a dozen people in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

The United States last month struck a deal with the Taliban on the withdrawal of U.S.-led international troops but the agreement does not include Islamic State militants.