Seven attackers tried to storm the temple within the early hours of Saturday morning, throwing grenades at safety guards who have been standing on the entrance. The attackers additionally detonated a automotive bomb within the space however no casualties have been reported from the explosion.
All seven gunmen have been killed after a standoff that lasted a number of hours contained in the temple’s compound, Zadran stated. There was no rapid declare of accountability.
The assault killed a member of the safety forces and a Sikh worshiper, in keeping with state-run information company Bakhtar.
Temple official Gornam Singh informed Reuters that 30 folks have been contained in the temple on the time of the assault. “We do not know what number of of them are alive or what number of lifeless,” he stated, including that temple authorities have been at a loss at what to do because the Taliban weren’t permitting them inside.
Sikhs are a tiny non secular minority in Afghanistan, with only a few left because the Taliban takeover final 12 months.
Religious minority teams just like the Sikhs have been a goal for violence within the nation. In 2020, 25 folks have been killed in an assault at one other Sikh temple in Kabul, which ISIS claimed accountability for.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the assault, writing in a tweet that “assaults on civilians should stop instantly. UNAMA calls for cover of all minorities in Afghanistan, together with Sikhs, Hazaras and Sufis.”
The European Union Ambassador to Afghanistan stated the assault is horrible and “non secular (and ethnic) pluralism must be protected with full power.”
India’s Foreign Ministry stated they have been “deeply involved on the studies emanating from Kabul about an assault on a sacred Gurudwara in that metropolis.”