ISIS terrorists stormed a Sikh religious minority temple on Saturday, June 19. The attack occurred while thirty Sikh devotees were worshipping in a Gurudwara in the Karte Parwan neighborhood in Kabul. this place of worship is called “Gordwara,” and it is only Sikh’s temple in Afghanistan.
Although, Hindus and Sikhs are among the indigenous groups of Afghanistan. however, due to the systematic attacks and targeted killings against this minority group, only 150 of them remained in Afghanistan at present.
According to the Taliban, three people were killed and seven wounded in the attack. The dead include a Sikh worshiper, a Taliban security official and the ISIS attacker himself. But local sources told Afghanistan Women’s Voice: “The death toll and the number of wounded are higher than what the Taliban has announced”
ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack. They reported on their news channel, Aamaq, that a member of the group, Abu Muhammad Tajik, armed with a rifle, pistol and hand grenade, had carried out the combined attack. ISIS claims to have carried out the attack in response to the Indian ruling party’s insult to the Prophet.
The terrorist organization ISIS has claimed responsibility for the attack stating that it was carried out in response to the Indian ruling party’s insult to the Prophet.
They reported on their news channel, Aamaq saying that the coordinated attack was carried out by a member of the ISIS group named Abu Muhammad Tajik, who was armed with a rifle, handgun, and hand grenade.
In the past, Afghanistan was home to approximately 300,000 Sikhs and Hindus. However, only 150 of them remained in Afghanistan owing to systematic and continuous attacks against this group.
Since 2018, attacks against Hindu and Sikh religious minorities have intensified. In 2020, ISIS carried out a similar attack on this group, killing 26 people and injuring eight others.
The recent attack on Hindu and Sikh religious minority in Afghanistan provoked national and international reactions and condemnations.
The UNAMA office in Kabul denounced the attack on the Sikh’s temple and demanded that all Afghanistan’s minorities, including Sikhs, Hazaras, and Sufis, must be protected.
Meanwhile, former Afghan President Hamid Karzai condemned the attack and expressed his condolences to the victims’ families in a Facebook post.
Former Afghan parliamentarian Anar Kelly Honeryar who belongs to the Sikh religious minority tweeted” Afghan Hindus and Sikhs are the main inhabitants of this land, and yet we are being targeted because of what had happened in India. I am Afghan, we are Afghan, not Indian”.
