KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The regional affiliate of the Islamic State, ISIS-K, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombing in Kabul on Monday, claiming it killed and injured 45 people, including Taliban members.
The suicide bombing took place outside the Taliban-run Attorney General’s office in Kabul’s southwestern Darulaman area on Monday afternoon, September 2.
Confirming the incident, the Taliban reported yesterday a lower number of casualties: six killed and 13 injured, claiming that all those affected were civilians.
Yesterday, local sources in Kabul reported that at least six of the explosion’s victims were prosecutors and employees of the previous government’s Attorney General’s office who had continued their work after the Taliban takeover.
A KabulNow reporter has identified five of the victims of the incident: Hujatullah Mirzai, Ahmad Amin Nasiryar, Ilhamuddin Yamin, Wahidullah Noori, and Khairuddin Mazahari. All were from the northeastern Badakhshan province.
As reported by the BBC, ISIS-K claimed in a statement that a member of the group targeted employees of the Taliban Attorney General’s office with a suicide attack, detonating a vest as they were leaving the office.
According to the report, ISIS-K stated that the attack was a retaliatory act for the Taliban’s transfer of its members to Bagram prison.
Despite the Taliban’s claims that no active terrorist groups remain in Afghanistan and that they have dismantled ISIS-K, the terror group continues to expand its operations, targeting religious minorities and the Taliban themselves.
Two weeks ago, ISIS-K claimed responsibility for an explosion in eastern Nangarhar province that killed six people and injured four others, saying that the attack targeted and killed Taliban members.
Additionally, the terror group has claimed responsibility for numerous attacks on the Hazara-Shia community across Afghanistan in recent years, resulting in the deaths and injuries of dozens of community members.
In his recent report to the UN Security Council, UN Deputy Secretary-General for Counter-Terrorism Vladimir Voronkov highlighted an increase in the financial and logistical capabilities of ISIS-K in Afghanistan over the past six months.
The UN senior official warned that ISIS-K poses a major threat with the capability to carry out terrorist attacks not only in Afghanistan but also beyond.
He urged all UN member states to take unified action to prevent Afghanistan from becoming a breeding ground for global terrorism. “We must come together to ensure that Afghanistan does not become a hotbed of terrorism once more,” he said.
