The ISIS Khorasan (IS-K) has claimed responsibility for an attack on a passenger vehicle in the Dasht-e Barchi area of Kabul, resulting in five deaths and 15 injuries. The incident occurred on Saturday night at the Qala-e Naazir station in western Kabul, with all victims being civilians. The attack has sparked widespread condemnation, with the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan (NRF) attributing it to the Taliban as the main perpetrator. The Afghanistan Freedom Front, in response to recent ISIS attacks, asserts that without Taliban support, ISIS cannot target Shia and Hazara communities. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in denouncing this attack, calls for an end to targeted assaults on civilians, increased protection for the Hazara community, and accountability for those responsible for such incidents.
On Saturday night, a passenger bus in the Dasht-e Barchi region, located in the sixth district of Kabul, became the target of an explosion, resulting in five fatalities and 15 others injured. According to sources, all the victims of this incident were Shiite civilians, predominantly Hazaras. Three of the casualties were recent graduates from university.
However, survivors share bitter accounts of shattered dreams. Some social media users have posted a picture of a female victim, stating that she was supposed to take the TOEFL exam today.
Mohammad Hossein Jawhari, one of the users, wrote: “A young lady, full of hopes and dreams, was getting ready to take the TOEFL exam. The exam was scheduled for Monday, January 8, 2024. Unfortunately, her body was engulfed in flames during the Saturday night explosion in Dasht-e Barchi. Her husband, desperately searching in hospitals, could not identify her charred remains. Throughout the night, he searched from one hospital to another and even approached security agencies, but found no trace. Every time he looked at the burnt bodies, still hoping she might not be among them, he couldn’t believe his wife had become a victim of the explosion. Finally, dental prosthetics identified her at the forensic medicine department as Khadija Panahi.”
Mr. Jawhari has mentioned the victim of the ISIS attack by the name of Khadija Panahi, stating that she holds a Bachelor’s degree in Graphic from Kabul University and was preparing to take the TOEFL exam to pursue her Master’s degree abroad. He specified that Mrs. Panahi had been married for three years.
This attack has garnered widespread reactions from politicians and opposition fronts to the Taliban. They attribute the attack to the Taliban, emphasizing that the group is responsible for and the mastermind behind suicide attacks in Afghanistan, which have claimed thousands of victims over the past two decades.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, led by Ahmad Massoud, in response to this attack, stated that the Taliban are both responsible for and the perpetrators of such events in Afghanistan. In a press release, the Front asserted that the perpetrators of this crime are simultaneously targeting a specific religious sect and ethnic group, aiming to drag Afghanistan into the dangerous violence of sectarianism.
On the other hand, the Afghanistan Freedom Front, in response to the recent ISIS attack on a civilian passenger vehicle in Kabul, has stated that this explosion is related to the deadly attack in Kerman, Iran and that no group, including ISIS, can carry out attacks on Shiites and Hazaras without the support of the Taliban. The Front declared, “From the perspective of the Afghanistan Freedom Front, the recent chain of attacks targeting Shiites and Hazaras in Afghanistan is connected to the recent bloody attack in the city of Kerman, Iran; both events have been planned and coordinated within the Taliban Emirate’s sphere of influence.”
However, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announced that at least 25 individuals from the Hazara community have been killed or injured as a result of the recent explosion in the Dasht-e Barchi region of Kabul.
UNAMA, condemning this attack, calls for an end to targeted assaults on civilians, increased protection for the Hazara community, and accountability for those responsible for these heinous events.
This comes as some political activists, in response to the ISIS attack in Dasht-e Barchi, consider the Taliban and ISIS Khorasan (IS-K) to have a common ideological denominator.
Ghulampoor, a political activist, has responded to the recent ISIS attack in Dasht-e Barchi, stating that following the new pattern of attacks on Hazara-populated areas, once again, ISIS has claimed responsibility for this inhumane attack, which victimized several laborers. He notes that following the explosions in Kerman, both the Americans and the Taliban have spoken from a shared informational source, attributing it to the work of ISIS. He adds, “Interestingly, the Taliban announced the nationality of the attackers even before Iranian intelligence agencies. These incidents indicate an information connection between ISIS Khorasan and the Taliban. Currently, terrorists from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, China, and Iran are receiving training and support under the Taliban banner in Afghanistan, preparing for events similar to Kerman. On the other hand, the former leader of ISIS Khorasan has pledged allegiance to the Taliban, and doctrinally, the Taliban are also considered extremists. In their history of massacres and suicide attacks, such as targeting schools and even maternity wards, they have been no less brutal than ISIS in Iraq and Syria. Another commonality between these two terrorist groups is the receipt of funds and support from specific countries.”
Mr. Ghulampoor has stated, “It seems that the Taliban, with logistical and intelligence support to ISIS and exploiting security vulnerabilities in Iran, has been involved in various attacks in Shiraz and Kerman. The attack last night in Dasht-e Barchi was to show that ISIS exists in Afghanistan as well and is opposed to the Taliban. However, who doesn’t know that attacking Hazara-populated areas is a top priority for the Taliban, and essentially, ISIS is just a new project in this process.”
While ISIS has claimed responsibility for the Dasht-e Barchi attack, it comes in the wake of the group also claiming responsibility for a suicide attack on the fourth-anniversary commemoration of Qasem Soleimani, the former commander of Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) of Iran, last week.
Reuters, citing U.S. intelligence agencies, reported that in the Kerman attack in Iran, ISIS based in Afghanistan was involved, and this information is undeniable.
Previously, the United Nations Security Council’s Sanctions Monitoring Team stated that the Taliban, the Al-Qaeda network, and the “Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP)” remain “strong and interconnected.” The Council’s report noted that within the Taliban regime, a “range of terrorist groups have more maneuverability,” and the Taliban “exploit it well.” The report explicitly states that the “threat of terrorism is increasing both in Afghanistan and in the region.”
This comes as the Taliban have repeatedly claimed to have eliminated ISIS in Afghanistan, and dismissed the presence of this group as media-driven propaganda. However, the United Nations Security Council has stated that the Taliban have not adhered to the Doha agreement.
