Islamic State gurudwara bombing may be reaction to recent clashes in India

In this article, senior journalist Sanjib Kr Baruah talks about the attack inside the Dharamshala gurudwara in the Shorbazar area of central Kabul.

New Delhi: The suicide bomb attack by suspected Islamic State of Khorasan (ISK) bombers inside the Dharamshala gurudwara in the Shorbazar area of central Kabul on Wednesday morning, might be due to the wrongly-held perception of the terror outfit that a particular community is being persecuted in India.

Arian Sharifi, former director-general, strategic threat assessments, National Security Council of Afghanistan, told ETV Bharat, "Ideologically, in their (ISK) perspective, killing non-Muslims is both a means and an end. This particular case could also be a response and in reaction to the latest communal clashes in India in which a particular community were hard hit."

“This isn’t a new thing for ISK; the group has been targeting religious minorities, particularly Shias, in Afghanistan for years. Thus, the fact that they conducted this attack against our small Sikh and Hindu population is no surprise,” the former security specialist said.

The attack in which at least 25 people are reported killed started at about 7:45 AM local time when about 150 people were praying inside the gurudwara.

According to the SITE intelligence group, the Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the attack. SITE monitors jihadist networks worldwide.

Sharifi believes ISK will be the next chapter of war in Afghanistan as it is like a big brand with a magnetic pull that will continue to lure radical militants including from the Taliban.

While the Taliban is pursuing negotiations with the United States, there is a widely-held belief that many Taliban militants may change sides if a US-Taliban deal comes through.

But there is cautious scepticism too as many believe ISK may not actually be behind the Gurudwara attack.

Hussain Ehsani, a Kabul-based expert on radical groups in Afghanistan, said, “I think it is another chain attack of Haqqani and Taliban on Afghanistan’s Sikh minority. I believe ISK would not want to get involved in such attacks because tactically and strategically they will lose their capabilities in conducting such attacks.”

“There is already a strong relationship between LeT (Lashkar-e-Taiba), TTP (Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan) and the Haqqani (Haqqani Network). It is very simple, LeT, TTP and the Haqqani accomplish the attacks and then use the brand of the Islamic State (to blame it).”

Ehsani, who very recently brought out a report on ISK on behalf of the Afghan Institute for Strategic Studies (AISS), said that Pakistan is known to use its proxy groups in Afghanistan on the pretext of protecting Islam.

It is a widely held view that LeT and the Haqqani Network are creations of Pakistan’s secret agency the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

ISK was set up in Afghanistan on January 10, 2015, and had expanded quite rapidly in the insurgency-hit country since then. As of now, the ISK has its strongholds in Nangarhar, Kunar and also Kabul to a certain extent.

In order to increase focus and to underline the significance it attaches to spreading in India and Pakistan, on May 10, 2019 and May 15, 2019, the ISK set up the ‘Wilayat al-Hind’ and ‘Wilayat Pakistan’ respectively.