Highlights
- At least 25 worshippers were killed during the morning prayers inside the Kabul gurudwara
- Eight were injured while 80 were rescued, says Afghan Interior Ministry
- So-called Islamic claimed responsibility within hours of the attack
A gurudwara (Sikh temple) in Kabul was attacked by armed assailants on March 25, killing at least 25 people and injuring eight.
The victims were believed to be worshippers and also residents of the religious site. Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry said that 80 people had been rescued from the site.
The so-called Islamic State is said to have claimed responsibility for the attack via a post on their website, squarely blaming India for instigating this reaction from them for their “treatment of Muslims in its part of Kashmir.
In several conflicting reports circulating on the Internet, the attack could have been executed by one or more assailants using guns and hand grenades.
It is also reported that at the time of the attack, there were nearly 150 people inside the gurudwara.
Twitter has since been abuzz with tweets condemning the tragedy and condoling the affected families.
The most prominent tweet from Afghanistan came from the war-torn nation’s National Security Advisor Hamdullah Mohib.
He also later visited the site and met the residents of Dharamshala, a residential complex inside Gurudwara Guru Har Rai.
In his televised addressed to the nation on the measures taken by the government to fight the coronavirus, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi began by condemning the attack and condoling the victims of the gurudwara attack.
Rahul Gandhi, the president of the Indian National Congress, the main opposition party in India, also took to Twitter to express his sadness over the Kabul attack.
Tweets from Punjab Chief Minister Capt. Amarinder Singh and ministers in the Modi government like Harsimrat Kaur Badal and Hardeep Singh Puri were also seen in condemnation and condolence.
Sikhs and Hindus, although a microscopic minority in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, have been under attack for several years now after the Taliban took control of the country's politics.
There are many historic religious sites of these communities in Afghanistan, around which their population is concentrated. However, most Sikhs and Hindus have now fled to safer countries since such attacks escalated.
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