KABUL: Gunmen killed at least 14 people in central Afghanistan on Thursday, the interior ministry said, in an attack that was claimed by the local chapter of the militant Islamic State group.

“Fifteen Shias were killed and six others wounded in an attack carried out by the soldiers of the caliphate in central Afghanistan,” the group’s Amaq media wing said in a statement.

Attacks in Afghanistan have declined markedly since the Taliban came to power in 2021, but a number of armed groups, including the regional Islamic State-Khorasan, remain a threat.

“Unknown gunmen opened fire and killed civilians,” Abdul Matin Qani, spokesman for the interior ministry, said.

A source in Daykundi the province said 14 people had been killed and four wounded.

The source said a group had gathered to welcome pilgrims returning from Karbala, Iraq.

An official at a hospital in the city of Nili, the provincial capital of Daykundi, said staff had been put on alert.

“They are informed to be prepared to receive and treat the wounded,” he said.

Islamic State-Khorasan, or IS-K, is the group’s Afghanistan branch, “Kh­o­rasan” referring to a historical region that inc­luded parts of Iran, Afgha­nistan and Central Asia.

Earlier this month the IS group claimed a suicide attack in the Afghan capital that killed six people.

It also said it was behind an attack targeting tourists in May that killed six people, including three foreigners.

In March, IS showed its wider capabilities by attacking a Moscow concert hall and killing 145 people.

A UN counter-terrorism official warned this month that IS-K poses the greatest external terrorist threat to Europe, having “improved its financial and logistical capabilities in the past six months”.

Chief Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said the concerns raised were “driven by propaganda” and that the group had been “significantly weakened” in Afghanistan.

Published in Dawn, September 13th, 2024