ISIS Attacks Sikh Temple in Kabul, Killing 25

Interior Ministry: Security forces have killed all attackers

Wednesday say ISIS gunmen attacked a Sikh temple in central Kabul . At least 25 people were killed in the temple, and Afghanistan’s Interior Ministry reported that they’d ultimately killed all the attackers.

Afghanistan has a small population of Sikhs, an estimated 8,000, mostly in big cities like Kabul. ISIS and other militants are keen to attack religious minorities, and the Afghan government has struggled to provide security for them.

During Taliban rule, the Sikhs were largely tolerated, if not treated equally. ISIS has attacked them often in the past few years, and many Sikhs have sought asylum in India as a result.

The gunmen who infiltrated the temple included one dressed in a police uniform who shot the guard outside the temple, forcing his way in. Once inside, ISIS gunmen were shooting pretty much everybody, and all the deaths are apparently civilians.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.