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| ISIS Claims Responsibility for Sikh Temple Attack, Retaliation for Humiliation of Prophet Muhammad |
International Military - The terrorist group Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul, Afghanistan that killed two people. ISIS said the attack was in retaliation for insulting the Prophet Muhammad.
Protests have erupted in several Muslim countries following statements by a spokesman for Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Hindu nationalist party earlier this month about the relationship between the Prophet Muhammad and his wife.
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In a message posted on its propaganda website Amaq, ISIS said Saturday's attacks targeted Hindus and Sikhs as well as "apostate" groups who sheltered them in an act of support for the Prophet.
ISIS said one of its fighters penetrated a temple for Hindus and Sikhs in Kabul, after killing its guards, and opened fire on the infidels inside with machine guns and hand grenades.
Two people were killed and at least seven others injured in the attack, a member of the community and a Taliban fighter. Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said the assailants threw at least one grenade as they entered the temple, setting off the fire.
The attack followed a visit by an Indian delegation to Kabul to discuss the distribution of humanitarian aid from India to Afghanistan. Afghan and Indian media reports said the delegation discussed with Taliban officials the possibility of reopening the Indian embassy, which was closed after the Islamist group seized power in August last year.
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The number of bombings in Afghanistan has declined since the Taliban returned to power, but several attacks - many targeting minority communities - have rocked the country in recent months, including several claimed by ISIS. While ISIS is a Sunni Islamist group like the Taliban, the two are fiercely competitive groups and are very different on ideological grounds.
The number of Sikhs living in Afghanistan has shrunk to about 200, compared with about half a million in the 1970s. Read also: Explosion rattles Sikh temple in Kabul Most of what remains are traders involved in selling herbal medicines and electronics brought in from India.
In recent months, many impoverished Sikhs including women and children have taken refuge in the compound which was attacked on Saturday. The community has faced repeated attacks over the years. At least 25 people were killed in March 2020 when gunmen stormed another Sikh temple in Kabul in an attack also claimed by ISIS.
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