The United States denounced on Tuesday the ‘cowardly’ attack on the Karte Parwan Gurdwara in Kabul, Afghanistan, which killed two people and wounded numerous more. At a daily news conference at the White House, US State Department spokeswoman Ned Price said the incident is part of a troubling pattern targeting members of religious minority groups in Afghanistan, adding that ‘those offenders must be held responsible’.
‘We have strongly denounced recent attacks in Afghanistan that have killed and injured people. This includes the barbaric attack on the Sikh community in Kabul over the weekend, which took the lives of innocent people, including a Sikh worshipper’, according to Price’s statement. Despite the fact that Afghanistan is one of the world’s most varied countries, terrorists in the war-torn country are striking at the heart of the country’s ‘pluralistic character’. ‘ What we’re witnessing today looks to be a pattern on the part of terrorists and extremists hitting at the heart of Afghanistan’s multicultural character, striking against Hindus and Sikhs,’ he added.
This comes a day after US Special Ambassador to Afghanistan Rina Amiri expressed alarm about the rising number of attacks against minority Hindus and Sikhs in Afghanistan. She stated on Twitter that given Afghanistan’s variety, a threat to one community is comparable to a challenge to the ‘identity of Afghanistan as a whole’. Later at the UN General Assembly (UNGA), India’s permanent envoy T.S Tirumurti condemned the ‘heinous act’ that resulted in the terrible loss of life in Kabul. He emphasized the importance of making ‘selective’ attempts to remove ‘religiousphobia.’
‘And only a few days ago, on June 18th, we observed the International Day Against Hate Speech. We witnessed yet another horrific example of violence against the Sikh religion, this time in Kabul, Afghanistan. The Gurdwara Karte Parwan was assaulted, desecrated, and damaged’, Tirumurti said.
Kabul Gurdwara attack;
Unidentified assailants opened fire inside Kabul’s Dashmesh Pita Guru Gobind Karte Parwan Gurdwara at 7 a.m. on Saturday. At the time of the shooting, at least 30 individuals were inside the Gurudwara, reciting Sukhmani Sahib, or morning prayers. According to Pajhwok News in Afghanistan, five persons were murdered, including three infiltrators. Sawinder Singh, a 60-year-old inhabitant of the Ghazni area in southeast Afghanistan, was among those murdered.
The Islamic State-Khorasan (ISIS-K) claimed responsibility for the fatal terror assault, calling it a ‘protest against the Prophet’. The terrorist organisation stated on its propaganda website that the strike was directed at Hindus and Sikhs. After the terrorist ‘penetrated the temple’ in Kabul and opened fire with machine guns and hand grenades, several bombs tore through the prayer hall. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, expressed horror at the ‘cowardly’ attack.
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