At least 25 people were yesterday killed in an attack on a Sikh-Hindu temple in Afghanistan’s capital where worshippers were offering morning prayers, the latest assault claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group.
The incident came as the nation reels from a US$1 billion cut in US aid and struggles with a raging insurgency, political deadlock and rising coronavirus cases.
Witness Raju Singh Sonny told reporters that a man dressed in a police uniform burst into the temple in central Kabul, shot a guard and started attacking worshippers in the main hall.
Photo: EPA-EFE
“Several other attackers also entered the building and they were going from room to room shooting people,” Sonny said.
Only a few thousand Sikhs and Hindus are estimated to reside in what is an overwhelmingly Muslim nation.
The assault started about 7:45am, Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesman Tariq Arian said.
There were conflicting accounts about how many gunmen were involved, with security sources giving differing numbers between one and four. At least one attacker was subsequently killed by security forces in an hours-long clearing operation.
The Islamic State group claimed responsibility, the SITE Intelligence Group said.
The Taliban denied any involvement.
Anarkali Kaur Honaryar, a Sikh member of the Afghan parliament, said that about 150 people had been inside the temple, where several families also live and worshippers gather for morning prayers.
“Some people inside the temple are hiding and their phones are off,” Honaryar said while the attack was ongoing.
Arian said that 25 civilians had been killed and eight others wounded, while 80 people had been rescued from the temple.
Graphic images posted online showed several bodies as well as terrified people who appeared to be Sikhs running from the scene.
“Such cowardly attacks on the places of religious worship of the minority community, especially at this time of [the coronavirus] pandemic, is reflective of the diabolical mindset of the perpetrators and their backers,” the Indian Ministry of External Affairs said in a statement.
Sikhism and Hinduism are rooted in India.
The Islamic State has a history of targeting Afghan Sikhs and Hindus including a suicide bombing in Jalalabad in July 2018 that killed 19 people and wounded 21.
In the past few months, the group has suffered mounting setbacks after being hunted by US and Afghan forces as well as Taliban offensives targeting their fighters, but it still retains the ability to launch major assaults on urban centers.
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday lavished US President Donald Trump with praise and vows of a “golden age” of ties on his visit to Tokyo, before inking a deal with Washington aimed at securing critical minerals. Takaichi — Japan’s first female prime minister — pulled out all the stops for Trump in her opening test on the international stage and even announced that she would nominate him for a Nobel Peace Prize, the White House said. Trump has become increasingly focused on the Nobel since his return to power in January and claims to have ended several conflicts around the world,
REASSURANCE: The US said Taiwan’s interests would not be harmed during the talk and that it remains steadfast in its support for the nation, the foreign minister said US President Donald Trump on Friday said he would bring up Taiwan with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) during a meeting on the sidelines of the APEC Summit in South Korea this week. “I will be talking about Taiwan [with Xi],” Trump told reporters before he departed for his trip to Asia, adding that he had “a lot of respect for Taiwan.” “We have a lot to talk about with President Xi, and he has a lot to talk about with us. I think we’ll have a good meeting,” Trump said. Taiwan has long been a contentious issue between the US and China.
Taiwan’s first African swine fever (ASF) case has been confirmed and would soon be reported to the World Organization for Animal Health (WOAH), Minister of Agriculture Chen Junne-jih (陳駿季) yesterday. The Ministry of Agriculture’s Veterinary Research Institute yesterday completed the analysis of samples collected on Tuesday from dead pigs at a hog farm in Taichung and found they were ASF-positive. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Agency Animal Quarantine Division chief Lin Nien-nung (林念農) said the result would be reported to the WOAH and Taiwan’s major trade partners would also be notified, adding that pork exports would be suspended. As of Friday, all samples
RSS