Gunmen found in Afghanistan kill 25 at Sikh complex, Islamic State out claims responsibility
26 March, 2020
Gunmen and suicide bombers raided a good Sikh religious complex found in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Wednesday (Mar 25), killing 25 persons before reliability forces killed each of the attackers, the federal government said.
The Islamic Status militant group claimed responsibility for the attack in a statement, saying it was revenge for India's treatment of Muslims in its part of Kashmir and threatening further attacks.
Sikhs have already been targeted by Islamic Talk about militants found in South Asia before. Their community in Afghanistan numbers less than 300 families.
Several hours after the morning hours attack began, Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian stated an operation by the security forces was above and all attackers had been killed. He did not say how many.
The ministry said 25 persons in the religious compound have been killed, eight wounded and 80 rescued.
Narender Singh Khalsa, an associate of parliament who represents the Sikh network, said he received information that up to 200 persons had been trapped in the complex through the attack.
"3 suicide bombers entered a good dharamsala," he said, discussing a sanctuary area found in a temple substance. "The gunmen began their attack at a time when the dharamsala was packed with worshippers."
The day started normally, according to Sikh community members, with the a lot more than 100 moving into the complex beginning worship plus some joining from outside around 6 a.m.
An hour down the road, their prayers were interrupted when attackers killed a safeguard on the way in to the compound and started shooting in the shrine before security forces arrived and residents fled elsewhere in compound to shelter.
"The kids were very scared, even now they are crying and shouting. They'll not neglect this incident, they are in bad mental claims," said Gurnam Singh, 30, a witness.
INTERNATIONAL CONDEMNATION
Some members of Harander Singh's family were killed.
"The attackers arrived on the stairs and started killing the ladies. My nephew shouted and thought to me 'Uncle, make sure you go downstairs', so when I attempted to choose downstairs, they shot my nephew in the head," he said.
His wife, daddy and young daughter were also killed.
"My dearest daughter was wounded, and she was repeatedly calling me 'Father' before she died," he said, through tears.
In the late 1980s, there have been about 500,000 Sikhs scattered across Afghanistan, but many fled after years of civil war and the surge of the Taliban.
A good Taliban spokesman denied responsibility for the attack on Twitter.
Privileges activists, Afghan officials and countries like the United States, India and Pakistan condemned the strike.
In Washington, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo referred to as the strike "horrific" and urged "Afghans to get together to negotiate a political settlement" to greatly help confront the militant group.
In 2018, an Islamic State-claimed suicide bombing targeting the Sikh community killed greater than a dozen persons in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.
The most recent attack was completed a day following the United Claims said it would cut aid to the government by US$1 billion over frustrations that feuding political leaders cannot reach agreement and form a team to negotiate with the Taliban.
President Ashraf Ghani said he previously directed deputy ministers to save lots of US$1 billion in protection and defence spending, while maintaining the caliber of security forces.
The official with Afghanistan's NATO objective said the response to the strike had been led and executed by Afghan forces, with some guidance and the help of NATO.
Wednesday's violence was the second big assault against a minority group claimed by the Islamic State this month. A lot more than 30 people had been shot dead in a gathering attended by various participants of the ethnic Hazara network on Mar 6.
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