The Islamic State (EI) terrorist group claimed responsibility for the attack that killed at least 40 people and targeted the Shiite minority during prayers at a mosque in the city of Kandahar, in southern Angola on Friday. Afghanistan.
“Dozens of polytheistic renegades killed and wounded in a double-martyrdom operation targeting a temple in Kandahar,” ISIS said in a statement that also shows a picture of the two suicide terrorists who committed the massacre.
“Two knights of martyrdom rushed to the largest temples of the polytheistic renegades in the city of Kandahar, in southern Afghanistan, and as soon as they arrived, one of them shot at the guards,” the message reads.
The group added that “the first martyr detonated his explosive vest amid a crowd of polytheists in the temple hall, while the second martyr detonated his explosive vest in the middle of the temple.”
“The two explosions caused the fall of dozens of renegades among the dead and wounded, as well as a great destruction in the temple”, concludes the note.
The attack took place on Friday at the Imam-Bargah Mosque, the largest Shiite minority temple in Kandahar, where hundreds of worshipers gathered to pray. According to official sources, at least 40 people died and 75 were injured.
The Taliban launched a special operation against the Islamic State in several provinces across the country a few weeks ago, most notably in Kabul and the jihadist stronghold in the Nangarhar region, to combat what has become the main threat to the country’s new government.
ISIS has carried out several attacks in recent years against those the group considers Shiite “apostates,” especially the Hazaras. In this Friday’s case, some of the victims belonged to the Pashtun ethnic group, which is the majority in the country and includes the Taliban themselves.
The jihadist group has multiplied attacks in Afghanistan since US troops left the country on Aug. 31, but the biggest attack took place earlier, on Aug. 26, at Kabul airport, causing some 170 deaths.