A bomb attached to a handcart exploded in Kabul on Friday, killing eight civilians in an area mostly populated by Afghanistan’s minority Shiite Muslim community. An explosion has injured 18 people as Shiites in Afghanistan mark the first 10 days of the Muslim holy month of Muharram. According to police spokesman Khalid Zadran, “security teams are trying to find the perpetrators.”
Government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the bombing was “the work of those who are enemies of Islam and the country”. The Sunni jihadist Islamic State, which claimed responsibility for the attack, said IS fighters used explosives placed in a vegetable cart. Zadran said Afghan police believe members of the Hazara ethnic community, who are Shiite Muslims, were targeted in the blast.
They gather in mosques and, after a few days, take part in processions to mark the death of the respected Shia Imam Husayn Ibn Ali. IS continues to target Shiites, although the number of violent public attacks across the country has fallen since the Taliban returned to power in August last year. The minority group, which makes up 10 to 20 percent of Afghanistan’s 38 million population, is called heretics by the Islamic State. Analysts say the jihadist group remains a key security challenge, although Taliban officials insist their forces have defeated IS.
