Afghanistan’s acting refugee minister was killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul on Wednesday, the country’s Taliban rulers announced.
Taliban officials blamed the Islamic State (IS) group, which later claimed responsibility.
What else do we know about this attack?
Taliban government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid praised Minister Khalil-ur-Rahman Haqqani as a “great fighter” and condemned the killing as a “cowardly attack”.
Reuters quoted Haqqani’s nephew Anas Haqqani as saying that the explosion occurred as the minister was leaving the mosque after afternoon prayers.
He is the most senior official to be killed since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021 as US-led international forces withdrew.
The slain minister was a senior leader of the powerful Haqqani network and the uncle of Acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Two other people were killed in the bombing, the Associated Press quoted a Taliban interior ministry official as saying.
Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar said he was “shocked” and condemned the attack.
“Pakistan unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations,” he said.
Pakistan does not officially recognize the Taliban government in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has repeatedly demanded the reins of its Pakistani counterpart Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) against the Afghan Taliban, which has carried out numerous attacks on Pakistani soil. There is.
IS attack in Afghanistan
IS is the ruling Taliban’s main rival and has carried out several attacks in the Central Asian country.
In September, an IS attack in central Afghanistan left at least 14 people dead and six injured.
In 2022, an explosion near the Ministry of Interior in Kabul killed four people. In 2023, IS claimed responsibility for an attack outside the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that left at least five people dead.
sdi/jgc (AP, AFP, DPA, Reuters)
