The Islamic State in Khorasan (EI-K) organization claimed responsibility, on the night of Tuesday April 30 to Wednesday 1er May, an armed attack which left six dead in a mosque in Herat, in western Afghanistan. In a message posted on Telegram, the regional branch of IS said it carried out Monday evening “a machine gun attack” in this Shiite mosque which “notably killed their imam”.
The Afghan Interior Ministry had announced the day before that on Monday “at 9 p.m., an unidentified person[vait] fires on worshipers in a mosque in the Guzara district of Herat ». “Six civilians were killed, another injured”reported ministry spokesperson Abdul Matin Qani on the social network
The mosque attack took place about a 40-minute drive south of the provincial capital, Herat. Afghanistan is frequently shaken by EI-K attacks, and the Shiite community is frequently targeted by deadly attacks in the country, the toll of which is often downplayed by the Taliban authorities.
Read also | Article reserved for our subscribers In Afghanistan, failure of an American attempt to promote the “moderate” wing of the Taliban
Add to your selections
Three attackers
Sayed Murtaza Hussaini, 23, told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that he rushed to the Imam Zaman mosque after receiving a call informing him of the attack. “It happened in the middle of prayer, but the number of worshipers was very limitedhe said. Those in the mosque were either killed or injured. »
“Five people died before reaching the hospital, including a 3-year-old child, and three were injured”he clarified, adding “ [puis] one of the injured died”. According to him, the attack was carried out by an assailant, with the help of two accomplices who remained in their vehicle.
Ibrahim Akhlaqi, 60, explained to AFP that the killed imam, Javid, was his brother. He too was notified by a phone call. “When I arrived at the hospital, he was already dead”he said. “We demand from the Islamic Emirate [d’Afghanistan] that he stops the killers », he added. He also reported three attackers, but said “one remained outside and the other two entered the mosque and shot the worshipers”.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (Manua) condemned this attack and called for an investigation to find the culprits. She estimated, on the social network “measures to protect the Shiite community in Afghanistan were urgent”.
Iran ready to strengthen cooperation
Iran’s Shiite neighbor condemned Tuesday “the terrorist attack” of the Herat mosque. The Iranian embassy in Afghanistan requested, on “the perpetrators are identified and punished”. Iran, the embassy added, “is ready to strengthen cooperation with Afghanistan in the fight against terrorism”.
The World Application
The Morning of the World
Every morning, find our selection of 20 articles not to be missed
Download the app
EI-K claimed responsibility for an explosive attack against a minibus on April 21 in a district of Kabul which left one dead and three injured. A month before, a suicide attack in the southern city of Kandahar, claimed by IS, left three dead, according to official sources, but twenty according to a hospital Source contacted by AFP. The suicide bomber had triggered his explosive belt in front of a bank where there were many civil servants who had come to collect their salaries, in this historic stronghold of the Taliban.
If security has generally returned to Afghanistan since the return of the Taliban to power in August 2021, hundreds of people have since been killed or injured in attacks often targeting civilians, and most often perpetrated by EI-K.
