Afghans express outrage at ISIS-K attack on Sufi shrine in Baghlan

KABUL -- The "Islamic State of Iraq and Syria" Khorasan branch (ISIS-K) on November 23 claimed responsibility for a deadly attack on worshipers at a Sufi shrine in Baghlan province.

A gunman opened fire on Sufis "taking part in a weekly ritual" at a shrine in a remote area of Nahrin district on November 21, killing 10 people, Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Matin Qani told AFP November 22.

A local resident, who said he knew some of the victims, said worshippers had gathered at the Sayed Pasha Agha shrine that evening.

They had begun a Sufi chant when "a man shot at the dozen worshippers," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"When [worshippers] arrived for morning prayers, they discovered the bodies," he added.

Security forces have arrested several individuals in connection with the incident, Sher Ahmad Barahani, a spokesperson for the Baghlan provincial police, told Salaam Times.

"Yesterday's killing of at least 10 Sufi muslims in a mosque in Nahrin Baghlan Afghanistan is deplorable," Richard Bennett, the United Nations special rapporteur for human rights in Afghanistan, said November 22 on X.

"Religious minorities remain under grave threat. More prevention, protection & justice needed," he added.

ISIS-K regularly claims responsibility for attacks on Sufi or Shia minorities, targets it considers heretical.

Since August 2021, ISIS-K has claimed responsibility for four previous attacks on Sufi sites in Kabul, Kunduz and Balkh that killed 103 people and injured 228, according to UN statistics.

Public outrage

The shooting has sparked widespread anger among Afghans, who strongly condemned the terrorist attack as un-Islamic.

"ISIS-K is a savage terrorist group whose sole purpose is to kill the innocent and defenseless," said Mohayuddin Halimi, 28, a resident of Baghlan.

"[ISIS-K] claims to be an Islamic group, but its actions are entirely anti-Islamic and inhuman," he said. "ISIS-K's goal is to tarnish the image of the sacred religion on a global level."

ISIS-K is a sectarian group that commits crimes under the guise of Islam, Mohammad Asi Mohammadi, 48, a religious scholar in Baghlan, said.

"Attacking a mosque or any other religious site is an inhuman act that the religion of Islam firmly rejects and condemns," he told Salaam Times.

"Shedding the blood of innocents, whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim, is forbidden in the eyes of Islam," he said. "ISIS-K has exploited the sacred religion of Islam to shed the blood of innocent Muslims and others."

ISIS-K's latest attack has left Abdul Rahim, 42, another resident of Nahrin district, shocked and deeply worried.

"ISIS-K activities across the country, including in Baghlan, are alarming," he said. "If this terrorist group could gun down these innocent young men ... it won't spare anyone else either."