Afghanistan: Kabul Sikh temple hit with gunfire, blasts

Explosions and gunfire have been heard at a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital, witnesses say. There are unconfirmed reports of fatalities.

Several blasts and gunfire hit a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday, a Taliban official and witnesses said.

Abdul Nafi Takor, a Taliban-appointed spokesperson for the Interior Ministry, confirmed that there had been an attack on the temple, saying a grenade blast wounded two members of the Sikh community.

A car bomb detonated in the area minutes later but caused no casualties, Takor said.

According to the Indian ANI news agency, at least one person was killed, but this has not been confirmed.

Videos on social media showed black smoke emanating from the temple in Kabul's Bagh-e Bala neighborhood. Gunfire can also be heard in the videos.

Who might be behind the attack?

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. However, a regional affiliate of the extremist "Islamic State" (IS) group known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province has lately increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the country.

An attack claimed by the IS at another Sikh temple in Kabul in 2020 killed 25.

The group is seen as the greatest security challenge facing the country's Taliban rulers, who have been clamping down on IS in eastern Afghanistan since seizing control of the country in August last year.

There are around 200 Sikhs now living in Afghanistan under the rule of the Islamist Taliban. This compares with the half a million adherents of the faith who lived in the country in the 1970s.