ISIS CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR KABUL ATTACK ON GURDWARA

The Islamic State (ISIS) claimed responsibility for Saturday’s attack on a Gurdwara in Afghanistan that killed two persons. In a message, ISIS said that the attack was a retaliation for insults against the Prophet Mohammed.

The attack killed two-one Sikh and one Taliban fighter and at least seven other wounded.

Protests in several countries were sparked by suspended BJP leader Nupur Sharma’s remarks earlier this month about the Prophet.

The message posted on its Amaq propaganda site, ISIS said Saturday’s attack targeted Hindus and Sikhs and the “apostates” who protected them in “an act of support for the Messenger of Allah”.

The group said one of its fighters “penetrated a temple for Hindu and Sikh polytheists in Kabul, after killing its guard, and opened fire on the pagans inside with his machine gun and hand grenades”.

Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said the attackers lobbed at least one grenade when they entered Gurdwara, setting off a blaze. 

The attack follows a visit by an Indian delegation to Kabul to discuss the distribution of humanitarian aid from India to Afghanistan.

Afghan and Indian media reports said the delegation discussed with Taliban officials the possibility of reopening the Indian embassy, which shut after the Islamists seized power in August last year. 

The number of bombings across Afghanistan has dropped since the Taliban returned to power, but several attacks — many targeting minority communities — have rocked the country in recent months, including several claimed by IS.