Gunman reportedly attacked a mosque in western Afghanistan, killing at least six people according.
Government spokesman disclosed this on Tuesday.
Ministry of Interior Affairs spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani reported that an unidentified armed individual shot at civilian worshippers in a mosque in Andisheh town, Guzara district, Herat province, around 9 pm (16:30 GMT) on Monday.
“Six civilians were martyred and one civilian was injured,” Qani wrote on social media early Tuesday.
Local media reports revealed that former president of Afghanistan said the mosque was targeted because it was a place of worship for the country’s Shiite Muslim minority.
The state-run Bakhtar News Agency confirmed the death toll. Local media outlet Tolo, citing local sources, reported that the mosque belonged to Afghanistan’s minority Shia community.
Local media reports also mentioned that a prayer leader, known as an Imam, was among those killed. The Iranian embassy in Kabul condemned the attack.
While no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the regional chapter of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant is the largest security threat in Afghanistan and has frequently targeted Shia communities.
The Taliban government, which returned to power in August 2021, has pledged to protect religious and ethnic minorities. However, rights monitors say they have done little to fulfill that promise.
The most infamous attack linked to ISIL since the Taliban takeover occurred in 2022, when a suicide bombing at an education center in a Shia neighborhood of Kabul killed at least 53 people, including 46 girls and young women. Taliban officials blamed ISIL for the attack.
Kabul’s new rulers claim to have eliminated ISIL from Afghanistan and are sensitive to suggestions that the group has found safe haven in the country since the withdrawal of foreign forces.
Taliban authorities have often reported lower death tolls than other sources after bombings and gun attacks, apparently to downplay security threats.
A United Nations Security Council report released in January noted a decrease in ISIL attacks in Afghanistan due to “counter-terrorism efforts by the Taliban.” However, the report also stated that ISIL still had “substantial” recruitment in the country and the ability to project a threat regionally and beyond.
ISIL’s chapter spanning Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Central Asia claimed responsibility for the March attack on the Crocus City Hall concert venue in Moscow, which killed more than 140 people, marking the deadliest attack in Russia in two decades.
