Unidentified gunmen suspected to be ISIS attacked a Sikh Gurudwara in Kabul on Saturday morning killing at least two people.
India World Forum President Puneet Singh Chandhoke said that at least two people have been killed and the fate of the several others remains unknown as they were taken to hospital by emergency workers. The two bomb blasts are suspected to be done by ISIS.
“There were around 30 people inside the temple. We don’t know how many of them are alive or how many dead. The Taliban are not allowing us to go inside, we don’t know what to do,” the official, Gornam Singh, told Reuters.
The security guards stationed on the temple premises fired in retaliation but the latest report suggests that a large part of the temple complex was gutted in a fire that began after an exchange between the attackers and the security guards.
As per available information, Ahmed, a security guard at the Gurudwara Karte Parwan was shot and killed in the morning attack that is being blamed on the Islamic State fighters. Sawinder Singh, 60-62 years has also been confirmed dead by the local community. He was killed inside his room at Gurdwara Karte Parwan.
Mr. Chandhoke informed that the Gurudwara’s main prayer hall where the Guru Granth Sahib was kept had been set on fire after indiscriminate firing targeting the devotees. The Gurudwara in Kabul has been home to at least 150 Sikhs who have been staying there since the fall of the Ashraf Ghani government last August. Around 30 devotees were present in the prayer hall at the time of the attack and several managed to flee as the attack began.
“We have been urging the Indian government to issue e-visas to the Sikhs who have been stranded in Afghanistan since last year,” said Mr. Chandhoke requesting help for the Sikhs who remain in Afghanistan. India evacuated several hundred Sikhs from Afghanistan in special flights during the last year but dozens more were awaiting evacuation, said Mr. Chandhoke who has been active in assisting the Sikhs and Hindus of Afghanistan.
The Gurudwara has been under attack from the Islamic State in the past as well. In March 2020, an attack on this temple claimed at least 25 lives and left dozens injured. The latest attack has come days after India sent a senior diplomat to hold dialogue with the Taliban establishment in Kabul. During talks with Joint Secretary J.P. Singh, Taliban’s “Foreign Minister” Mawlawi Amir Khan Muttaqi urged New Delhi to reopen its diplomatic mission in Kabul.
The outreach happened in the backdrop of a threat of attack issued by Al Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent following some negative utterances on the Prophet of Islam by two BJP leaders.
Breaking: 1 Sikh reported dead in Gurdwara Karte Parwan terror attack today. Update shared by Sikh Sangat of Kabul who are in touch with me. Sikhs of Afghanistan feeling helpless#Kabul #GurdwaraKarteParwan@ANI @TimesNow @PTI_News @punjabkesari @republic @thetribunechd https://t.co/xZ8m9prraf
— Manjinder Singh Sirsa (@mssirsa) June 18, 2022
Last year, the USA conducted an airstrike against ISIS, in east Afghanistan after ISIS killed 100 Afghans in an airport