Gunmen kill five in Kabul Sufi mosque attack: Officials

Kabul’s Sufi minority shattered a relative calm that had descended on the Afghan capital in recent weeks.

Gunmen attacked a Sufi mosque in Kabul on Saturday, killing at least five people and leaving six others wounded, police officials said.

“A group of armed men entered (a Sufi mosque)… and opened fire, killing five people and injuring six others,” Kabul police spokesman Hashmat Stanikzai said.

Deputy interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish confirmed the details of the attack, which took place at around 7:00 pm, and the toll.

Stanikzai said an investigation had been launched to “identify the attackers and the motive behind the attack”.

The rare attack on Kabul’s Sufi minority shattered a relative calm that had descended on the Afghan capital in recent weeks.

Though no group claimed responsibility for the attack in its immediate aftermath, Afghanistan remains plagued by a Taliban insurgency more than 13 years after the militant group was ousted from power.

NATO ended its combat mission in late December, leaving a residual force to carry on a training and support mission to Afghanistan’s 350,000 security forces, who now lead the fight against the Taliban.

The election last year of President Ashraf Ghani, who pledged to make peace talks a priority, as well as supportive signals from Pakistan which has long held significant influence with the Taliban, has boosted hopes for possible dialogue.

Source:: Indian Express