KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) – Two separate explosions shook the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, killing at least three people, including members of the Sikh minority community and wounding four others, Afghan officials said.
According to the two Afghan police officers, the first explosion hit a shop in the heart of the capital, causing at least two Sikhs to collapse. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to inform the media.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the blast, but the Islamic State group targeted Sikhs and other minority communities in Afghanistan.. A nationwide rise in bombings, targeted killings and violence on the battlefield comes as peace talks in Qatar between the Taliban and the Afghan government stall.
Kabul police spokesman Ferdaws Faramarz said six people were injured in the blast at the store and no one was killed. He said police are investigating what caused the explosion. The difference between the two numbers could not be offset immediately.
In the second blast on Saturday, Faramarz said a sticky bomb was attached to a police car and went off in northern Kabul, killing a police officer.
Tensions in Afghanistan are high amid a series of deliberate murders. Some are claimed by the local branch of the Islamic State, but many are unclaimed, and the government blames the Taliban who have denied responsibility for most of the attacks.
With increasing threats from IS, the once thriving community of Sikhs and Hindus in Afghanistan has declined from as many as 250,000 members to less than 700.
IS claimed responsibility for an attack in March last year in which a gunman flew through a Sikh house in the heart of Kabul, killing 25 worshipers and wounding eight.
IS claims that in 2020 it carried out 82 attacks in Afghanistan and killed 821 people, including 21 assassinations. Most of the victims of his attacks were either security personnel or Shiite Muslims. However, the perpetrators of many targeted killings are unknown.