UN decries deadly terrorist attack on Afghan Hazara community

The United Nations has urged Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban to bring to justice the perpetrators of an overnight deadly minibus bombing in Kabul that targeted members of the minority Hazara-Shiite community.

Saturday’s attack in the western Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of the Afghan capital killed at least 25 members of Kabul’s Hazara community, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) stated Sunday.

A regional Islamic State affiliate, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, claimed responsibility, saying it detonated an explosive device on the bus carrying Shiite Muslims, whom the extremist Sunni-based militant outfit describe as “disbelievers”.

Following the incident, UNAMA called for enhanced protection of the country’s Hazara community.

“UNAMA calls for an end to targeted attacks on civilians, greater protection for # Afghanistan’s Hazara community and accountability for perpetrators,” the agency wrote on its X platform.

Dasht-e-Barchi is a predominantly Shi’ite neighborhood and has experienced persistent militant bomb attacks targeting mosques, schools, and hospitals. IS-K has claimed credit for almost all recent attacks against the Hazara community in the city and elsewhere in Afghanistan, killing hundreds of civilians.