Attack on Civilians in Kabul Killed 41 and Injured More than 80

A distraught man is carried from the scene of the explosions in Kabul, Afghanistan. A distraught man is carried from the scene of the explosions in Kabul, Afghanistan. Rahmat Gul/AP Photo

17 January 2018
This was one of the first attacks to specifically target Shi’a Muslim civilians in Kabul.

Three explosions killed 41 people and injured dozens more in the Afghan capital of Kabul on the morning of 28 December 2017. The explosions occurred in and around the Tabyan Cultural Centre in the predominantly Shi’a neighborhood of Qalai Nazir in western Kabul. The nearby press agency Afghan Voice was also targeted in the blasts.

Among the 41 victims of the attack were women and children, as well as university students attending an event at the Tabyan Cultural Centre. The students were there for a discussion to mark the 38th anniversary of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. Journalists from Afghan Voice were also among the dead. After the initial blast, two more bombs exploded outside, with no reported fatalities. ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack; the Taliban immediately denied involvement.

ISIS’s Afghan affiliate targeted the predominantly Shi’a neighborhood specifically. It regards the Shi’a as apostates, and its Amaq news agency reported that it targeted the cultural centre because it was funded by Iran and used to spread Shi’a beliefs. Shi’a Muslims are a minority in Afghanistan, with the CIA World Factbook estimating them to comprise 10 to 15 per cent of the population. Sunni Islam, the branch to which most ISIS members belong, is followed by 85 to 90 per cent of the Afghan population.

According to Al Jazeera reporter Abdullah Shahood, Afghans rushed to hospitals to donate blood for the wounded. Afghan President Ashraf Ghani condemned the attacks, calling them an attack against Islam. The UN has called the attack “another despicable crime in a year of atrocities.”

 

To read more, visit:

https://peacekeeping.un.org/en/attack-civilians-kabul-another-despicable-crime-year-of-atrocities-un
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/af.html
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2017/12/afghanistan-isis/549311/
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/what-the-deadly-kabul-bombing-shows-about-isis-in-afghanistan
http://www.repubblica.it/esteri/2017/12/28/news/afghanistan_attentato_kabul-185357061/

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/12/kabul-killed-suicide-attack-afghan-voice-171228063628772.html
http://edition.cnn.com/2017/12/28/asia/kabul-attack-intl/index.html
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/dec/28/blast-afghan-news-agency-kabul-kills-dozens

 

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