Kabul: Unidentified gunmen and suicide bombers who raided a Sikh religious complex here Wednesday, trapping up to 200 people have been killed the government said. However, it also said that there have been civilian casualties, but did not give numbers.
Sikhs have been the target of attack by Islamist militants before in South Asia. A Taliban spokesman, in a message on Twitter, denied responsibility for the attack.
Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said in a message to journalists the operation by the security forces to defeat the attackers was over and all of them had been killed. “Unfortunately there are casualties,” he said. He did not give details. However, a ministry of health spokesman said one child had been killed and 15 people wounded but the toll could rise. However, other sources confirmed that the number of people killed in the attack could be over 25.
Narender Singh Khalsa, a member of the Afghan parliament who represents the tiny Sikh community, said earlier he had reports that four people had been killed and up to 200 people had been trapped in the temple in the early morning attack.
“Three suicide bombers entered a dharamsala,” Khalsa said, referring to a sanctuary area in a temple compound. “The gunmen started their attack at a time when the dharamsala was full of worshippers,” he added.
Afghanistan’s Sikh community numbers fewer than 300 families. In the late 1980s, there were about 500,000 Sikhs scattered across Afghanistan, many from families that had been there for generations, but most fled after years of civil war and the rise of the Taliban.
Sikhs are among religious minorities eligible for citizenship in India through the CAA introduced by the BJP. Human rights activists and countries including the United States, India and Pakistan condemned the attack.
“We are shocked and disheartened … the authorities have a responsibility to protect minorities and their places of worship in Afghanistan,” Amnesty International South Asia said on Twitter.
India also hit out hard after the gurudwara was laid siege. “Suicide attack on a Gurudwara Sahib in Kabul needs to be strongly condemned. These killings are a grim reminder of atrocities that continue to be inflicted upon religious minorities in some countries and the urgency with which their lives & religious freedom have to be safeguarded,” Civil Aviation Minister Hardeep Singh Puri tweeted.
“We convey our sincerest condolences to the immediate family members of the deceased and wish speedy recovery to the injured. India stands ready to extend all possible assistance to the affected families of the Hindu and Sikh community of Afghanistan,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“Such cowardly attacks on the places of religious worship of the minority community, especially at this time of COVID-19 pandemic, is reflective of the diabolical mindset of the perpetrators and their backers,” it added.
Agencies