Six civilians were killed and several others injured in a suicide attack near the foreign ministry in Kabul on Monday, according to the Afghanistan interior ministry. The attack was the latest in a series of violent incidents by the Islamic State group, which has challenged the Taliban’s rule since they took over Afghanistan in August 2021.
The interior ministry spokesman Abdul Nafy Takor said on Twitter that Afghan forces identified and shot at the attacker in front of a business centre near the foreign ministry.
“The explosives carried by the attacker also exploded with his killing, which killed six civilians and wounded a number of others,” he said. Emergency, an Italian NGO that runs a hospital in Kabul, confirmed that it received two dead and 12 wounded, including a child.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
This was the second attack near the foreign ministry in Kabul in less than three months, and the first since Ramadan began on Thursday in Afghanistan.
On January 11, a suicide bomber detonated himself near the foreign ministry, killing 10 and wounding 53 people, as reported by the United Nations.
The Taliban authorities, who have often downplayed attacks against their government, had said that five people were killed in that attack, which was claimed by IS.
The group has carried out several attacks targeting foreigners or foreign interests in Afghanistan, aiming to undermine the Taliban government.