ISIS Claims Responsibility For Explosions In Shia Area Of Kabul Last Weekend

JAKARTA - ISIS claimed responsibility for last weekend's explosions in Kabul, in which scores of people were killed and injured, becoming the umpteenth time terror attack in Afghanistan since the Taliban came to power.

15, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack in the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Saturday, the group said on its Telegram account on Sunday.

A magnetic bomb mounted on a passenger minivan exploded in a predominantly Shia area of the Afghan capital Kabul on Saturday, causing an unknown number of casualties, Taliban officials and local residents said.

A series of recent attacks has added more pressure to the ruling Taliban, who took power after the collapse of the Western-backed government in August and is also grappling with an economic crisis and potential famine.

A Taliban official, who declined to be named, said six people were killed and at least seven injured in the blast in the Dasht-e Barchi area of western Kabul.

The area is mostly inhabited by ethnic Hazara Shiites who have been the target of repeated attacks by the Islamic State militant group.

Two Taliban officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said ISIS was also behind Saturday's attack but there was no official comment from the movement's security forces.

Meanwhile, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid acknowledged an explosion in Dasht-e Barchi, killing at least one civilian and wounding two others. An investigation is ongoing, he said in a tweet.

A local resident, who gave his name as Ishmael, said he had reached the scene minutes after the explosion, which came a day after an attack on a Sunni mosque in eastern Afghanistan.

"When I arrived, I saw a huge fire. It was a minivan that was targeted by a sticky bomb," he said.

He said a friend who had helped take the injured to a nearby hospital said at least three or four people had died.

To note, more than 100 people were killed in attacks on Shia mosques in the northern city of Kunduz and in the southern city of Kandahar last month. Both attacks were claimed by ISIS.

Images shared on social media on Saturday showed flames and thick clouds of black smoke rising into the sky. At least two people suffered serious burns, according to the director of a nearby hospital specializing in burn cases.