A hand grenade exploded in Kabul’s most prominent mosque as worshipers performed their afternoon prayers on Wednesday. Several foreign media reported that at least six worshipers were seriously injured in this irresponsible attack.
According to Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran, one person suspected of involvement in the hand grenade attack on the Pul-e-Khisti Mosque has been arrested at the scene.
No one has yet claimed responsibility for the incident, but it was the second grenade attack in less than a week. In a separate attack on Sunday, a grenade was hurled at the country’s most considerable money-changing market, Sarai Shahzada, not far from the attacked mosque. The emergency hospital reported that the attack left one person dead and 59 others injured.
The Taliban administration’s Interior Ministry claimed that the attack on the money exchange hub was the work of a thief trying to rob the market. Meanwhile, the reason for the attack on the Pul-e-Khisti mosque in the center of Kabul is still unclear.
Violence has had a relative lull during the country’s winter months, but it now appears the number of incidents is increasing as the weather is getting warmer.
Nonetheless, the Taliban insists they have secured the country since taking over in August. However, International officials and analysts disagree with the statement, saying the risk of a resurgence in militancy remains, and the Islamic State militant group has claimed several major attacks.
The Islamic State group Khorasan Province (ISKP, ISIS-K) group has recently launched several attacks on Kabul and other cities. In November, ISKP was responsible for an attack on a military hospital in Kabul that left 19 people dead. Previously, the group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on a Shia mosque in Kandahar that killed 60 people in October last year.
In addition to the threat of the Islamic State terrorist organization, several armed groups, especially those formed by anti-Taliban figures and former government security forces, also pose a security challenge for Afghanistan’s new rulers.
