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News Desk: The Islamic State group has claimed responsibility for the minibus explosion in Afghanistan’s capital, Kabul, that killed at least seven people and injured more than 20 late Tuesday.
The Sunni militant group said its members detonated an explosive device on the bus carrying Shiite Muslims.
The blast happened in Kabul’s western Shiite neighbourhood of Dashti Barchi, according to police spokesman Khalid Zadran. This was the second bombing to have struck the area in as many weeks.
Earlier on October 26, four people were killed and seven were wounded in an explosion at a sports club in the neighbourhood. IS had claimed responsibility for that attack as well.
Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), ISIS’s regional affiliate, has frequently targeted the Shia sect of Islam, attacking Shia schools, hospitals, and mosques in the Dashti Barchi area of Kabul. Hundreds of people, particularly minority sects like the Hazaras and the Shia, have been killed in IS attacks.
The ISKP, mainly based in Afghanistan’s eastern Nangarhar province, has been a major rival of the Taliban since they seized control of Afghanistan in August 2021.
The IS was also responsible for the bombing of the Kabul airport in August 2021 that killed 170 civilians and 13 US soldiers, while it has also carried out attacks on Pakistani and Russian missions and an attack on a hotel favoured by the Chinese.
