Enlarge image
After the attack, men carry away the body of a dead man
Photo: Sahel Arman/AFP
A Sikh temple in the Afghan capital Kabul was the target of a terrorist attack on Saturday.
According to the Taliban-led Interior Ministry, at least two people died.
Information on the number of injured initially varied, local media reported up to 30 dead and injured, the ruling Taliban spoke of seven injured.
As shown in pictures taken by local journalists, the temple in the Karte Parwan district suffered significant damage.
The Ministry of the Interior declared the operation against the attackers over, but security forces continued to search the site.
Two bodies of the alleged attackers were found.
The Taliban assumed that there were two perpetrators.
According to Afghan politician and Sikh Anarkali Honaryar, the gunmen entered through the entrances and exits of the Gurudwara, the place of worship of the faith community.
They threw hand grenades around, causing fire to break out.
Video footage from inside the place of worship showed shattered windows and hanging wall coverings.
Local media had reported multiple explosions and gunshots at the site.
Video footage showed black smoke billowing from the building.
According to ministry spokesman Abdul Nafai Takur, a member of the Sikh community and a Taliban security force were among the dead.
It was not known whether the attackers were killed by security forces or killed themselves.
According to the spokesman, they had previously tried to detonate a car bomb in a crowd, but the bomb detonated too soon.
Nobody was injured as a result.
Initially, no group claimed responsibility for the attack, and the Interior Ministry spoke of "rebels".
Sikh locations and members have repeatedly been similarly attacked by ISIS supporters.
The militant Islamists are also deadly enemies of the ruling Taliban, although both groups are recruited from Sunnis and are ideologically close.
According to Honaryar, fewer than 60 members of the Hindu and Sikh religious minorities still live in terror-stricken Afghanistan.
Much of the supporters once based in Kabul had left the capital when the Taliban took power in August 2021.
Local politicians as well as the foreign ministers of Pakistan and India condemned the attack on Kabul's Sikh community.
The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (Unama) called for an immediate end to attacks on civilians and protection for all minorities in Afghanistan, including the Sikh, Hasara and Sufis.
dop/dpa