Islamic State conducts suicide bombing at Shia mosque in Afghanistan; another attack against Hazara Shiites

Shiites and Hazaras of Afghanistan were once again targeted by a terrorist attack while praying in the mosque as a suicide bombing ripped through a Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, martyring 40 and injuring 60 other worshippers. Islamic State has claimed responsibility for the attack.

The attack, which has faced reactions inside and outside of Afghanistan, was a bloody reminder of the insecurity that persists in the region and which has spread to neighboring Pakistan since the end of the U.S.-led war.

Afghan Shiites and Hazaras have been subjected to various types of targeted attacks and mass killings in recent years, especially after the Taliban regained control of the country. In the latest development, a suicide bomber blew himself up among worshippers attending Friday prayers at a Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan.

The attack happened in the city of Pol-e-Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province, at Imam Zaman Mosque, which is considered one of the largest Shia mosques in this province. Hundreds of Shiites come to this mosque to pray every day.

The Taliban officials have put the death toll at 7 and the injured at 17, but reliable news sources and witnesses have confirmed that the number of martyrs is close to 40 and the injured 60.

Pictures of the attack scene published on social networks show different parts of the mosque covered in blood and many bodies lying on the ground. Based on these images, it is speculated that the number of the victims of the attack is much higher than the released statistics. In continuation of its media censorship policies, the Taliban group stopped journalists from visiting the scene of the incident on Friday and prevented them from publishing the reports of the explosion.

Hours after the explosion, the Sunni extremist Islamic State group issued a statement claiming responsibility. The group has also targeted Afghanistan’s minority Shiites in past large-scale attacks.

The regional affiliate of IS, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, increased attacks on mosques and minorities across the country after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

The attack on Shiite worshipers in Baghlan has been met with widespread reactions and has raised criticism against the Taliban. Shiites and Hazaras in Afghanistan say they are the targets of such attacks because of their ethnic and religious affiliations, as a part of the continuation of “targeted” and “historical” attacks against them.

Richard Bennett, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights for Afghanistan, has condemning the attack, calling for “prevention, protection and accountability” for the Shiite population in Afghanistan.

UNAMA, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, said that they are investigating this attack against the Hazara Shiites in Baghlan. Hamid Karzai, the former president of Afghanistan, has noted that the attack on the worshipers is “a terrorist act and is against Islamic and human principles and values”.

Some other personalities and political movements of Afghanistan have considered the terrorist attack against the worshipers in Baghlan province as the continuation of ethnic cleansing and the genocide of the Hazaras.

It should be mentioned that Shiites and Hazaras of Afghanistan have been the victims of targeted attacks in mosques, public places, educational centers and hospitals for decades. Last year, a suicide attack on a school in the west of Kabul caused global protests. The protesters considered the attacks against Shiites and Hazaras as an example of genocide and demanded recognition of such attacks by international organizations as terrorism.

It should be mentioned that extremist Sunni Islamist militants consider Shiites to be heretics, and their killing to be wajib, brainwashing individuals to conduct murder and all types of violence against the Shia community as a means to enter the Paradise.