EDITORIAL: Despite Afghan Taliban’s claim that they have stamped out rival Sunni militant group, the IS-K, during the recent months it has launched several deadly attacks on Shia Hazaras as well as Sufis, whom it considers heretics.
On Saturday, IS-K terrorists tried to drive an explosives-laden car into a Sikh gurdwara in Kabul, but luckily for some 30 people huddled inside, they detonated before reaching the target, apparently, on resistance by Taliban security guarding the place.
The assault left one worshipper and a Taliban member dead. In a message posted on its propaganda site, Amaq, IS-K made the senseless assertion that it was retaliation for insults against Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) — committed by two BJP government officials in India — and that the target were Hindus, Sikhs and the “apostates” who protected them in “an act of support.”
This is not the first time a Sikh place of worship came under IS-K assault. In March 2020, at least 25 people were killed and eight others injured when a suicide bomber blasted inside a gurdwara in Kabul. The one attacked on Saturday was the Sikh community’s last remaining place of worship in Afghanistan.
A thriving community for over a century, Sikhs no longer feel safe in their ancestors’ adopted home because of endless conflict and ensuing security concerns. From half a million in the 1970s their number is said to have dropped to about 200 at present, most of them are traders who find it difficult to leave their well-established businesses.
Even though the Taliban had assured them they could practice their religion without fear, many have left for India, while some came to Pakistan. Those remaining may also be preparing to wind up their businesses to live in peace elsewhere.
The IS-K has repeatedly demonstrated that it retains the ability to mount attacks not only in Afghanistan but other countries of the region as well. It has been involved in several terrorist attacks in Pakistan. Just last March, it claimed credit for a suicide bombing on a Shia mosque in Peshawar in which at least 61 people lost their lives and another 196 were wounded.
According to a UN report, taking advantage of the chaos in Afghanistan IS-K has also been recruiting fighters from some other violent extremist groups, such as the Eastern Turkish Islamic Movement (ETIM) — renamed Turkish Islamic Party (TIP) — which is focused on starting an insurgency in China.
The group, says the report, closely collaborates with TTP, Al Qaeda and Jamaat Ansarullah to “plan attacks on Chinese interests in Pakistan, Tajikistan and elsewhere.” This demolishes the Taliban claim that they have eliminated any threat from the IS-K. The collaboration with other extremist groups, aside from posing a clear and present threat to Afghanistan’s neighbours, eventually can endanger peace and security of countries farther afield.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022
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