Explosion In Kabul Kills Acting Taliban Minister Khalil Haqqani, ISIS Allegedly Mastermind Of Attack

JAKARTA - Afghanistan's acting Taliban minister, Khalil Rahman Haqqani, and six others were killed in an explosion in the capital Kabul.

Taliban spokesman said Khalil Haqqani was killed by the ISIS militant group, who has yet to claim responsibility for the attack.

Khalil Haqqani became minister in the Taliban's interim government after foreign forces withdrew from Afghanistan in 2021.

He is the senior leader of the Haqqani network, a militant faction blamed for the major attacks during the 20-year war, according to the US State Department.

"We lost a very brave Mujahid," his nephew, Anas Haqqani, told Reuters, using the Taliban term for his fighters, meaning a holy warrior. We will never forget him and his sacrifices.

He said the explosion occurred when Khalil Haqqani left the mosque after Friday prayers.

Ishaq Dar, Pakistan's neighboring foreign minister, said he was "surprised" by the attack.

"Pakistan firmly condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," he said.

The Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 when foreign forces withdrew, and pledged to restore security, but attacks continue in urban areas.

In 2022, an explosion occurred near the interior ministry, led by network leader Haqqani Sirajuddin Haqqani, killing four people.

In 2023, ISIS claimed attacks outside the Taliban-run foreign ministry and killed five people.

Washington classified Khalil Haqqani, who, according to members of the Taliban in his 50s, as a global terrorist' in 2011 and offered a 5 million US dollar reward for information leading to his arrest.