Islamic State says targeted Taliban in Kabul suicide attack that killed at least 6

The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack in Afghanistan that killed six people of Monday (September 2).

The IS group’s Amaq media wing, on Tuesday (September 3), said that it had targeted the Taliban government’s prosecution service.

Details of deadly attack

The statement, disseminated via the Telegram messaging app, went on to add that “the suicide bomber waited until the time when the prosecutor’s employees were leaving their shifts” before detonating in the middle of a crowd.

The stated purpose of the bombing, which Kabul police said killed at least six people and wounded 13 more on Monday afternoon, was “to avenge Muslims held in Taliban prisons”.

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The IS group’s statement said that the cumulative figure for the number of dead and wounded people together stood at “more than 45”.

Taliban authorities claimed only three people were killed in the attack, while a hospital source reported the toll as 20. Such inconsistencies are not news and occur quite often in line with each party’s propaganda.

Taliban’s IS problem continues

Last month, AFP quoted a Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid as saying that IS “existed here before but we suppressed them very hard”.

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“No such groups exist here that can pose a threat to anyone,” he had said back then.

The reality, however, is different. The IS group is, and has long been, a major rival of the ruling Taliban. In the past, it has carried out similar attacks on schools, hospitals, mosques and Shiite areas throughout the country.

Prior to the Monday attack, The Islamic State’s Khorasan Province (ISKP) branch had claimed a suicide attack in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar in March. Kandahar is the Taliban’s historic stronghold.

While Taliban seizing power in Afghanistan following the chaotic departure of US and North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) troops sweeping security operations have led to a decline in militants challenging their rule, analysts say that the regional IS chapter, ISKP, remains a threat.

With inputs from agencies