Afghan forces
have killed gunmen who attacked a Sikh religious complex in the capital, Kabul,
ending an hours-long siege that killed 25 people, the Ministry of Interior has
said.
The attack on
Wednesday was claimed by the ISIL (ISIS) armed group. Earlier, the Taliban
armed group denied it was behind the siege that left at least eight others wounded.
Witness Raju
Singh Sonny told AFP 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.
"Several
other attackers also entered the building and they were going from room to room
shooting people," Sonny said.
Later in the
day, interior ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said in a message to journalists
the operation by the security forces had concluded and all attackers were
killed.
Security forces
cordoned off the area, located in old Kabul after gunmen stormed the complex,
the government said.
Nainder Singh
Khalsa, a parliamentarian from the minority Sikh community, told AP news agency
he had been near the Gurdwara - the Sikh place of worship - when the attack
happened and ran to the site.
Those killed
included a child whose body was brought to a Kabul hospital, emergency services
and the hospital said.
Sound of
explosions
At a Kabul hospital,
Mohan Singh, who was in the Gurdwara at the time of the attack, told AP he
first heard the sound of gunshots and dove for cover under a table. Later, he
heard the sound 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.
Khalsa later
told Reuters News Agency that many people were still inside the building.
"The gunmen started their attack at a time when the Dharamsala was full of
worshippers," he said, referring to a sanctuary area in the temple
compound.
The SITE
Intelligence Group, which tracks activities by armed groups, said ISIL had
claimed responsibility for the attack on its Aamaq media arm.
Earlier this
month, an affiliate of ISIL attacked a gathering of minority Shia Muslims in
Kabul, killing 32 people.
Sikhs in
Afghanistan
The attack
comes a day after the US said it would cut its aid to the Afghan government by
$1bn over frustrations that feuding political leaders could not reach an
agreement and form a team to negotiate with the Taliban.
US Secretary of
State Mike Pompeo visited Kabul on Tuesday in a bid to resolve a standoff
between President Ashraf Ghani and his rival Abdullah Abdullah, who also
proclaimed himself president following a contested election.
The US and the
Taliban signed a deal last month that was supposed to pave the way for talks
between the Afghan leadership and the rebels, but with Kabul unable to agree on
who is in government, the talks have stalled.
Sikhs, who
number fewer than 300 families, have suffered widespread discrimination in the
country and have also been targeted by armed groups.
In 2018, a
suicide bombing targeting the Sikh community and claimed by ISIL killed more
than a dozen people in the eastern city of Jalalabad.
Under Taliban
rule in the late 1990s, Sikhs 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.
Source:
Aljazeera- 25 MARCH 2020
https://bit.ly/2xtzs4s
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