At least eight people were killed and 22 injured in a bomb blast that occurred on Saturday in a busy commercial area in Kabul, the capital of Afghanistan, according to medical officials and witnesses.
The device went off in a part of the city’s west where the minority Shi’ite Muslim community frequently congregates. A terrorist Sunni Muslim organization calling itself Islamic State asserted responsibility for the attack on its Telegram channel.
An investigating team was at the blast site, according to a representative for the interior ministry, to assist the injured and count casualties.
Ambulances were seen rushing to the location, which is close to bus stops, in video footage that was released online.
Prior to Ashura, which is mostly observed by Shi’ite Muslims and honors the martyrdom of Hussein, a grandson of the Prophet Muhammad, the attack occurred.
Although the Islamic State does not have any territory under its control in Afghanistan, it has spies there who have attacked the country’s religious minority as well as patrols by the Taliban government.
After a two-decade conflict, the Sunni Muslim Taliban won control of Afghanistan in August of last year. They have promised to increase safety for Shi’ite mosques and other buildings.
A Shi’ite religious expert in Kabul named Sayed Kazum Hojat remarked that while the Taliban government had increased security in advance of Ashura, it should be more vigilant.
Despite the lack of recent census data, estimates place the number of Shi’ites in the 39 million-person country at between 10 and 20 percent, including Hazaras, Tajiks, and Pashtuns who speak Persian.
