The Islamic State group claimed on Tuesday a suicide attack in the Afghan capital that killed six people a day earlier, saying it had targeted the Taliban government’s prosecution service.
The explosion in Kabul’s southern outskirts on Monday afternoon killed at least six people and wounded 13 more, according to the city’s police.
The IS group’s Amaq media wing said in a statement on the Telegram messaging app that “the suicide bomber waited until the time when the prosecutor’s employees were leaving their shifts” before detonating in the middle of a crowd.
It put the combined figure of dead and wounded at “more than 45” and said the bombing was committed “to avenge Muslims held in Taliban prisons”.
Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities have declared security their highest priority since surging back to power following the chaotic withdrawal of US-led foreign forces three years ago.
While their sweeping security operations have led to a decline in militants challenging their rule, according to analysts, the regional IS chapter known as Islamic State Khorasan (IS-K) remains a threat.
The group has targeted Taliban government ministries, foreign embassies and religious minorities.
The previous suicide attack in Afghanistan claimed by IS-K was in the southern city of Kandahar — the Taliban’s historic stronghold — in March.
Taliban authorities said only three people were killed in that attack, while a hospital source put the toll at 20. Such discrepancies are not uncommon.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told AFP last month that IS “existed here before but we suppressed them very hard”.
“No such groups exist here that can pose a threat to anyone,” he said.