The assault on Saturday was “an act of revenge” following insults made by members of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party in regards to the Prophet Mohammed, ISIS-Khorasan stated on its Telegram channel.
Nupur Sharma, a spokesperson for the occasion, had made derogatory remarks concerning the Prophet Mohammed throughout a panel dialogue on a information channel and her feedback have been allegedly adopted by anti-Islam feedback by one other occasion chief on Twitter.
Seven gunmen had tried to storm the temple within the early hours of Saturday morning and all have been killed after a standoff that lasted a number of hours, in keeping with Kabul police.
ISIS-Okay stated in its Telegram submit that its suicide bomber Abu Muhammad al-Tajik had gained entry to the temple by throwing a hand grenade on the safety guard officer on the entrance, killing him.
“Armed with a rifle, pistol and hand grenades, he proceeded to shoot,” the worshippers contained in the temple, ISIS-Okay stated.
A temple official stated 30 folks have been contained in the temple on the time.
ISIS-Okay additionally claimed its members had clashed with Taliban authorities fighters making an attempt to succeed in the temple, concentrating on them with a automotive bomb and 4 different explosive gadgets.
It stated the clashes between ISIS-Okay and the Taliban fighters had lasted three hours and that the suicide bomber al-Tajik had died in these exchanges.
“The IEA [Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan] strongly condemns the concentrating on of the Hindu shrine in Kabul by the enemies of the Afghan folks. The IEA expresses its condolences to the households of the victims and assures that severe measures will probably be taken to determine and punish the perpetrators of this crime,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid, tweeted referring to the Sikh temple.
Outrage grows
Afghanistan, as soon as house to tens of hundreds of Sikhs and Hindus, has seen quite a few assaults on spiritual minority teams for the reason that Taliban took management of the nation in 2021, following the withdrawal of US forces.
Last yr, ISIS claimed one other assault towards the Sikh group that killed greater than two dozen folks at one other temple in Kabul.
Saturday’s assault comes amid rising outrage within the Muslim world in direction of India for the feedback by the BJP members and New Delhi is struggling to comprise the diplomatic fallout from Muslim-majority nations just like the United Arab Emirates, Malaysia, Oman and Iraq.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the newest assault, calling on Twitter for the “safety of all minorities in Afghanistan, together with Sikhs, Hazaras and Sufis.”
The European Union Ambassador to Afghanistan additionally condemned the assault, saying “spiritual (and ethnic) pluralism must be protected with full pressure.”
India’s Foreign Ministry stated it was “deeply involved on the stories emanating from Kabul about an assault on a sacred Gurdwara in that metropolis.”