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Agence France-Presse

Islamic State claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that killed Afghanistan’s minister for refugees at his office in Kabul, jihadist monitor SITE said.
Taliban authorities had already blamed Isis for the “cowardly attack”, which a government official said had killed minister Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani and a number of his colleagues on Wednesday.
The explosion – the first attack targeting a minister since the Taliban returned to power in 2021 – was caused by a suicide blast.
Isis issued a photo of the fighter it said was behind the bombing, writing that he detonated an explosive vest after he “penetrated the security barriers inside the headquarters”, according to a statement on its Amaq news agency, as translated by the SITE.

Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid paid tribute to the minister, saluting a “great fighter” who “fell as a martyr”.
The roads leading to the ministry were blocked by Taliban authorities, with security personnel posted on surrounding rooftops.
The ministry’s account on X said training workshops were held in recent days on its premises.
The ministry’s corridors are often full of numerous displaced people coming to request assistance or to follow up on resettlement cases in a country that still has more than three million war-displaced.
Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani – who seldom appeared without an automatic weapon in his hand – was the brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, founder of the feared Haqqani network responsible for some of the most violent attacks during the Taliban’s two-decade insurgency.
He was also the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current interior minister.

Khalil Ur-Rahman’s nephew, Anas Haqqani, praised his uncle, saying he “reached the highest level of martyrdom”, and condemned his killing by “those who apparently claim to follow the blessed religion of Islam”, in a post on X.
The Haqqanis are said to be engaged in a struggle for influence within the Taliban authorities.
According to press reports, they are pitted as a pragmatic faction up against supporters of the severe interpretation of Islamic law in line with the Taliban’s supreme leader based in Kandahar.
Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, called Haqqani’s death “a massive loss for the Haqqanis and Taliban more broadly” in a post on X.
Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, who was 58, had been on US and UN sanctions lists, with Washington offering US$5 million for information on him.
Several senior Taliban leaders have been killed since their return to power, including provincial governors, commanders and religious clerics, mostly in attacks claimed by Isis.
Violence has waned in Afghanistan since the Taliban forces took over the country in 2021, ending their war against US-led Nato coalition forces.
However, the regional chapter of Isis, known as Islamic State Khorasan, is active in Afghanistan and has regularly targeted civilians, foreigners and Taliban officials with gun and bomb attacks.
In Kabul, explosions regularly echo through the city, but while local sources report them, they are rarely confirmed by Taliban authorities.
At the end of October, a child was killed and about 10 people were wounded in a bomb attack on a downtown market.
In November, Isis claimed responsibility for a gun attack that left 10 people dead at a Sufi shrine in northern Baghlan province.
The Taliban authorities frequently announce the arrest or killing of jihadist group members – even as they continue to claim that the Isis threat has been eradicated in the country.
Additional reporting by dpa


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Taliban security patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan on Wednesday. Photo: EPA-EFE

Afghanistan’s minister for refugees Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani. File photo: AFP

 Afghanistan’s Ministry of Refugees building in Kabul. Photo: AFP

Afghanistan’s Minister for Refugees Khalil Haqqani (middle) at a refugee camp near the Afghanistan-Pakistan Torkham border in 2023. Photo: AFP

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, 58, had been on US and UN sanctions lists, with Washington offering US$5 million for information on him. Photo: EPA-EFE

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A Taliban security guard stands guard with with a whip in front of Afghan men waiting outside a bank to withdraw money. Photo: dpa

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A Syrian opposition fighter sits inside an office at the Presidential Palace in Damascus. Photo: AP

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The Syrian presidential palace in Damascus after Islamist-led rebels declared that they have taken the Syrian capital in a lightning offensive. Photo: AFP

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World

Russia & Central Asia

Suicide blast in Afghanistan’s capital marks the highest-profile casualty since the Taliban retook power three years ago


Suicide blast in Afghanistan’s capital marks the highest-profile casualty since the Taliban retook power three years ago.
