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  • February 18, 2025
Minister for Afghan refugees killed by suicide bomber

Minister for Afghan refugees killed by suicide bomber

Kabul (AFP) – Afghanistan’s refugee minister was killed Wednesday in a suicide bombing at the ministry’s offices in the capital Kabul, government sources said, blaming Islamic State for the unclaimed attack.

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Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid deplored “a cowardly attack” carried out by Islamic State (IS), and saluted a “great fighter” who “fell as a martyr.”

The explosion, the first attack on a minister since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, “took place at the Refugee Ministry and Minister Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani was tortured along with some of his colleagues,” a government source told AFP . , where anonymity is requested.

He added that the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber.

The roads leading to the ministry were blocked by Taliban authorities, while security personnel were stationed on surrounding rooftops.

The ministry’s report on X states that training workshops have been held on the ministry premises in recent days.

The corridors of the ministry are packed every day with numerous displaced people who come to ask for help or follow up on resettlement cases in a country that still has more than three million displaced people.

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani – who never 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 Minister of Interior.

Khalil Ur-Rahman’s nephew, Anas Haqqani, praised his uncle, saying he had “achieved the highest level of martyrdom”, and condemned his killing by “those who apparently claim to follow the blessed religion of Islam”, in a message on X.

Sanctions lists

The Haqqanis are said to be involved in a battle for influence within the Taliban authorities.

According to press reports, as a pragmatic faction they are confronted with supporters of the strict interpretation of Islamic law, in line with the supreme leader of the Taliban, based in Kandahar.

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, who was 58, was on the US and UN sanctions lists, with Washington offering $5 million for information about him.

Several senior Taliban leaders have been killed since returning to power, including provincial governors, commanders and religious clerics, mainly in attacks claimed by IS.

Violence in Afghanistan has declined since Taliban forces took over the country in 2021, ending their war against US-led NATO coalition forces.

However, IS’s regional affiliate known as Islamic State Khorasan is active in Afghanistan and has regularly attacked civilians, foreigners and Taliban officials with gun and bomb attacks.

In Kabul, explosions regularly reverberate through the city, but while local sources report these, they are rarely confirmed by Taliban authorities.

In late October, a child was killed and about ten people were injured in a bomb attack at a downtown market.

In November, IS claimed responsibility for a gun attack that killed 10 people at a Sufi shrine in the northern province of Baghlan.

Taliban authorities regularly announce the arrest or killing of members of the jihadist group – even as they continue to claim that the IS threat has been eradicated from the country.