Afghanistan Islamic state

Bomb Blast in Kabul Kills Eight, Injures More Than 20

The bomb exploded in a western district of the city where members of the minority Shi’ite Muslim community regularly meet.

Kabul: A bomb blast in a busy shopping street in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on August 6 killed at least eight people and injured 22, hospital officials and witnesses said.

The bomb exploded in a western district of the city where members of the minority Shi’ite Muslim community regularly meet. Islamic State, a Sunni Muslim militant group, claimed responsibility for the attack, the group said on its Telegram channel.

A senior medical officer at a private hospital said at least eight people died and 22 were wounded.

An Interior Ministry spokesman said an investigation team was at the blast site to help the wounded and assess casualties.

Video footage posted online showed ambulances rushing to the scene, which is also near bus stations.

The attack came ahead of Ashura, a commemoration of the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, which is marked mainly by Shi’ite Muslims.

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On Friday, at least eight people were killed and 18 injured in a blast in Kabul carried out by Islamic State.

Islamic State does not control any territory in Afghanistan but it has sleeper cells that have been attacking religious minorities in the country as well as patrols by the ruling Taliban.

The Sunni Muslim Taliban authorities, who took over Afghanistan in August last year after a two-decade insurgency, have said they will provide more protection for Shi’ite mosques and other facilities.

Sayed Kazum Hojat, a Shi’ite religious scholar in Kabul, said the Taliban government had ramped up security ahead of Ashura but should improve vigilance.

No up-to-date census data exists, but estimates put the size of the Shi’ite community at between 10-20% of the population of 39 million, including Persian-speaking Tajiks and Pashtuns as well as Hazaras.

(Reuters)

US Condemns Suicide Attack on Afghan Mosque; Says Afghans Deserve a ‘Future Free of Terror’

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that tore through the packed Shiite Mosque in northern Afghanistan’s city of Kunduz.

Washington: The US has condemned in the strongest terms the suicide attack on worshippers at a mosque in Afghanistan in which at least 46 people were killed, saying the Afghan people deserve a “future free of terror”.

The Islamic State terror group has claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing that tore through the packed Shiite Mosque in northern Afghanistan’s city of Kunduz.

At least 46 people were killed and dozens of others injured in the attack which was the latest in a series of Islamic State bombings targeting Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers, religious institutions and members of the country’s minority Shiite Muslims.

In a statement on Friday, State Department spokesperson Ned Price said that the US condemns in the strongest terms the Friday’s attack on worshippers at a mosque in northern Afghanistan.

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“We offer our deepest condolences to the victims and their families. The Afghan people deserve a future free of terror,” Price said.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki told reporters at her daily news conference, “Obviously, any loss is an enormous tragedy, and our heart goes out to the families who lost loved ones”.

“We, of course, will continue to work in partnership with leaders in the region to work to get partners who stood by our side out of Afghanistan, who want to depart. That’s something that there’s ongoing work on, as we speak,” Psaki added.

The Islamic State’s Afghanistan affiliate, dubbed Islamic State Khorasan (ISIS-K) which has stepped up attacks in several Afghan cities since the Taliban seized power in Kabul on August 15, had claimed the deadly suicide attack at Kabul airport on August 26 that killed nearly 170 Afghans and 13 US military personnel.

(PTI)

Almost 4,000 Afghans Killed or Wounded in First Six Months of 2019: UN Report

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said in its latest report ground raids and clashes caused the most civilian casualties, followed by bomb attacks and air strikes.

Kabul: At least 3,812 Afghan civilians were killed or wounded in the first half of 2019 in the war against militant groups, including a big increase in the number of casualties caused by government and NATO-led troops, the United Nations said on Tuesday.

The latest casualty figures were released as talks between the Taliban and US officials to end the 18-year Afghan war entered an important stage, with US negotiators aiming to reach a peace deal before September 1.

However, the war has raged on despite the diplomatic efforts, forcing civilians to live under the constant threat of being targeted by militants or being caught up in ground fighting, or becoming inadvertent victims of air strikes by Afghan government and NATO-led forces.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in its latest report ground raids and clashes caused the most civilian casualties, followed by bomb attacks and air strikes.

Taliban and Islamic State fighters killed 531 Afghans and wounded 1,437 between January 1 and June 30. The hardline Islamist groups deliberately targeted 985 civilians, including government officials, tribal elders, aid workers, and religious scholars, UNAMA said in its report.

It said pro-government forces killed 717 Afghans and wounded 680 in the six months to June 30, a 31% increase from the corresponding period in 2018.

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At least 144 women and 327 children were killed and more than 1,000 wounded across the country.

Air strikes caused 519 civilian casualties, 150 of whom were children.

“Parties to the conflict may give differing explanations for recent trends, each designed to justify their own military tactics,” UNAMA human rights chief Richard Bennett said.

“The fact remains that only a determined effort to avoid civilian harm, not just by abiding by international humanitarian law but also by reducing the intensity of the fighting, will decrease the suffering of civilian Afghans,” he said.

The US and other NATO troops are stationed in Afghanistan as part of a mission to train, assist and advise Afghan forces and to carry out counter-terrorism operations.

Colonel Sonny Leggett, a spokesman for US forces in Afghanistan, rejected the methods and findings used by UNAMA, saying the collection of evidence by US forces was “more thorough, evidentiary and accurate”.

Leggett, however, did not give any US military figures for civilian casualties but said US forces worked closely with Afghan security forces to prevent them.

“We follow the highest standards of accuracy and accountability and always work to avoid harm to civilian non-combatants,” Leggett said.

The US is trying to negotiate a deal under which foreign forces would pull out in return for security guarantees by the Taliban, including a pledge that the country will not become a safe haven for terror groups.

The Taliban control or contest half the country, more than at any time since being overthrown by US-led Afghan forces in late 2001, but they have rejected calls for a ceasefire until all foreign forces leave Afghanistan.

The Afghan government and the Taliban were not immediately available to comment on the UN report.

(Reuters)

ISIS Claims Responsibility for Blast at Afghanistan Mosque

Security officials in the area said on Friday that the blast at a mosque in an army base had killed at least 26 people and wounded 50.

Reuters: Islamic State has claimed responsibility for an explosion at a mosque in Afghanistan’s eastern Khost province that killed and wounded scores of people, its Amaq news agency reported on Saturday.

“Around 50 of the Afghan army were killed and 110 were wounded when a martyr blew himself up on Friday,” the agency said.

Security officials in the area said on Friday that the blast at a mosque in an army base had killed at least 26 people and wounded 50.

(Reuters)