Gunmen and suicide bombers stormed a Sikh gathering in the heart of the Afghan capital’s old city Wednesday morning. The Afghan interior ministry reports at least 25 people were killed and eight others injured in the attack.
One attacker has been shot and three others are still fighting with security forces, according to reports.
“People are stuck inside the building and [security forces] are trying to rescue them,” Interior Ministry spokesman Tariq Arian said.
Defense forces arrived at the scene, blocked off the place of worship, known as a ‘Gurdwara’, and engaged in a gun battle with the attackers.
"There are about 150 people inside the temple. Families are living there and they usually gather to offer prayers in the mornings," said Anarkali Kaur Honaryar, a Sikh member of the Afghan parliament.
Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) claimed responsibility for the attack.
Sikhs are a small religious minority in Afghanistan numbering less than 300 families.
The Sikh community was targeted in 2018, when an Islamic State suicide bombing killed more than a dozen people in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.
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