A suicide bomber killed five people in front of the Russian embassy in Kabul. Now the Islamic State terrorist militia is claiming responsibility for the attack. While the Afghan Foreign Ministry is launching investigations, Russia is ramping up its security measures.
The jihadist militia Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for a bomb attack on the Russian embassy in the Afghan capital Kabul that killed at least six people on Monday. A fighter detonated his "explosive belt in a crowd that included Russian embassy employees," IS told Telegram. According to the Russian Foreign Ministry, two embassy employees died in the attack. A spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry wrote on Twitter that four Afghan civilians had also been killed.
According to the interior ministry, the suicide bomber was killed "before he could reach his target." According to the police in Kabul, the four Afghans who were killed were waiting for consular care. It was the first attack on a foreign mission since the radical Islamist Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in Moscow that the "terrorist act" was "completely unacceptable". Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow took immediate action to increase security around the embassy. "Means of the Afghan secret service and counter-espionage" were also used.
Russia was one of the few countries to keep its embassy open during last year's chaotic takeover by the Taliban -- while other nations suspended their missions and evacuated staff. According to the Afghan Foreign Ministry, investigations have been launched into the attack on the Russian embassy. The authorities would not allow the "enemies" to "sabotage relations between the two countries through such negative actions," it said.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations condemned the attack "strongly" and expressed his condolences to the families of the victims. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) condemned the attack on Twitter and called on the Afghan authorities to take measures to protect the "security of the population and diplomatic missions".
After the Taliban took power, violence in Afghanistan initially subsided. In the past few months, however, attacks have been carried out repeatedly, which the IS usually claimed to be responsible for. Like the Taliban, IS is a Sunni group, but both are in bitter rivalry with one another.
