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A regional branch of the Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for an attack on a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital.
An attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul left at least two people dead and injured seven others, on June 18, after a car bomb exploded.
Islamic State in Khorasan province, a regional branch of the IS group, has recently stepped up attacks on mosques and minorities across Afghanistan.
The group said in a telegram that the attack was a response to insults against the Prophet Muhammad.
Taliban-led government officials said a Sikh believer had been killed in the attack and a member of the Taliban force was killed during the purge operation.
International observers have complained about the lack of security for Afghanistan’s Sikh, Sufi and Hazara minorities.
The UN special rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, “strongly condemned” the attack and called for an end to “systematic attacks on religious minorities in Afghanistan”.
The attack was also condemned by the European Union.
A Sikh man who lives near the temple that was attacked told REL Radio Azadi that “If we can not live in Afghanistan, then they should tell us and they should give us the opportunity to go to any other country ”.
Sikhs are a small religious minority in Afghanistan, a Muslim-majority country.
The Sikh community, like other religious minorities, has been a permanent target of violence in Afghanistan. An attack carried out by the Islamic State on another temple in Kabul in 2020 killed 25 members.
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