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At least 10 people were killed in Afghanistan’s Baghlan province when a gunman opened fire on Sufis participating in a weekly ritual at a local shrine, the country’s interior ministry said on Friday.
The details are still unclear but the ministry said it is conducting investigations to understand the nature of the attack and identify those responsible.
The incident took place in Afghanistan’s remote Nahrin district.
“A man fired on Sufis during a weekly ritual at a shrine in Nahrin district, killing ten people,” Taliban’s interior ministry spokesperson Abdul Matin Qani told AFP news agency.
The Taliban seized control of Afghanistan in 2021, pledging to bring security to the conflict-ravaged country. However, attacks have persisted, with many attributed to the local affiliate of the militant group Isis.
In September this year, unidentified gunmen killed at least 14 people and wounded six in an attack in Afghanistan’s Daikundi-Ghur border region, a predominantly Shia Muslim area once considered safe. The victims were greeting pilgrims returning from the religious festival of Arbain in Karbala, Iraq.
The Isis terrorist group claimed responsibility, stating that the “soldiers of the caliphate” targeted Shiites, whom they label “apostates”.
Earlier this year, the Taliban’s biggest rival in the region, Islamic State – Khorasan Province – an Isis affiliate – claimed responsibility for a deadly shooting at the Imam Zaman Mosque in Herat province, Afghanistan, where six Shi’ite worshippers, including a woman and a child, were killed, and one person injured.
A gunman using an AK-47 reportedly opened fire on people during prayers before fleeing the scene.
ISKP is an extremist group that frequently targets Shi’ite Muslims, especially the Hazara minority who comprise about 10 per cent of Afghanistan’s population.
In September 2022, a suicide bombing at the Kaaj education centre in Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi neighbourhood killed 19 Hazara students and injured 27 others during an exam. The attack targeted the minority Shia community in a frequently targeted area.
After the US withdrawal in 2021, the Taliban swiftly regained control of Afghanistan, reimposing strict Sharia-based laws despite earlier promises to respect human rights.
Women have borne the brunt of this regime, facing bans on education, employment, and free movement, alongside harassment, violence, and disappearances for protesting. The country remains in the grip of one of the world’s worst humanitarian crises, with widespread poverty, displacement, and food insecurity affecting nearly 24 million people.
