Over 25 killed in Afghanistan gurdwara attack

There were about 150 worshippers inside the Gurdwara at the time of the attack among which more than 25 people have been killed. The police are trying to dislodge the attackers. The Islamic group claimed responsibility for the attack.

Kabul: Unidentified gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a Sikh gurdwara in the heart of Afghanistan's capital of Kabul on Wednesday, killing more than 25 worshippers and wounding at least eight, in one of the deadliest attacks on the minority community in the country.

Within hours, the Islamic State group has claimed an attack on a Sikh-Hindu temple in central Kabul, according to the SITE intelligence group, in the latest assault by the extremist outfit targeting a minority group in Afghanistan.

The gunmen held many of the worshippers' hostage for several hours as Afghan special forces, helped by international troops, tried to clear the building. At least one of the dead was a child.

All 4 terrorists have been killed by Afghan security forces.

As the siege ended, the Afghan special forces rescued at least 80 worshippers who had been trapped inside the Sikh house of worship, known as Gurdwara, as the gunmen lobbed grenades and fired automatic rifles into the crowd, the ministry said.

Earlier, Afghan lawmaker Narindra Singh Khalsa said he rushed over to help after receiving a call from a worshipper inside the Gurdwara telling him of the attack. There were about 150 worshippers inside the Gurdwara at the time, he added.

The SITE Intelligence Group, which tracks militant postings and groups, said IS had claimed responsibility for the attack on the group's Aamaq media arm.

At a Kabul hospital, Mohan Singh, who was in the Gurdwara when the attack began, said he first heard the sound of gunshots and ducked for cover under a table. Later he heard the sounds of explosions, adding that he believes they were hand grenades. He was injured when parts of the ceiling fell on him.

In photographs shared by the Interior Ministry, about a dozen children were seen being rushed out of the Gurdwara by Afghan special forces, many of them barefoot and crying.

As the news of the attack first broke on Wednesday, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahed tweeted that the Taliban were not involved. Earlier this month, Afghanistan's IS affiliate struck a gathering of minority Shiite Muslims in Kabul, killing 32 people.

India also expressed its condolences to the Sikh community of Afghanistan.

MEA said, "We convey our sincerest condolences to the immediate family members of the deceased and wish a speedy recovery to the injured. India stands ready to extend all possible assistance to the affected families of the Hindu and Sikh community of Afghanistan."

• We strongly condemns the heinous terror attack on a Gurudwara in Kabul.
  
  Such cowardly attacks on places of worship of minority community especially at this time is reflective of the diabolical mindset of the perpetrators & their backers. @IndianEmbKabul
  🔗https://t.co/9Otu8ifoVU

  — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 25, 2020 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  We strongly condemns the heinous terror attack on a Gurudwara in Kabul.
  
  Such cowardly attacks on places of worship of minority community especially at this time is reflective of the diabolical mindset of the perpetrators & their backers. @IndianEmbKabul
  🔗https://t.co/9Otu8ifoVU

  — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 25, 2020

  ">

  We strongly condemns the heinous terror attack on a Gurudwara in Kabul.
  
  Such cowardly attacks on places of worship of minority community especially at this time is reflective of the diabolical mindset of the perpetrators & their backers. @IndianEmbKabul
  🔗https://t.co/9Otu8ifoVU

  — Raveesh Kumar (@MEAIndia) March 25, 2020

The statement further said, "Such cowardly attacks on the places of religious worship of the minority community, especially at this time of COVID 19 pandemic, is reflective of the diabolical mindset of the perpetrators and their backers."

Sikhs have suffered widespread discrimination in the conservative Muslim country and have also been targeted by Islamic extremists. Under Taliban rule in the late 1990s, they were asked to identify themselves by wearing yellow armbands, but the rule was not enforced. In recent years, large numbers of Sikhs and Hindus have sought asylum in India, which has a Hindu majority and a large Sikh population.

In July 2018, a convoy of Sikhs and Hindus was attacked by an Islamic State suicide bomber as they were on their way to meet Afghan President Ashraf Ghani in the eastern city of Jalalabad, the capital of Nangarhar province. Nineteen people were killed in that attack.

(With inputs from AP)