Gun attack on Shiite mosque in western Afghanistan kills 6 worshippers

Taliban security personnel stand guard as Afghans mourn at a burial ceremony of the slain Shiite Muslims after gunmen attacked a mosque in Guzara district of Herat province on April 30, 2024.

Taliban authorities in Afghanistan said Tuesday that an overnight attack on a Shiite mosque in a western region bordering Iran had killed at least six people, including a child. An Interior Ministry spokesman reported that an “unknown armed person” stormed the mosque in the Guzara district in Herat province and sprayed worshippers with bullets before fleeing. "Six civilians were martyred and one was injured," Abdul Mateen Qani said on social media platform X. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the deadly shooting, but suspicions fell on a regional Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), or Daesh. The extremist Sunni group has taken credit for plotting almost all recent attacks on Shi’ite mosques, hospitals, and public gatherings in the country. Hassan Kazemi Ghomi, the Iranian ambassador in Kabul, condemned Monday’s attack, calling IS-K a “common external threat” to both countries and the region at large. "We consider Afghanistan our partner in the fight against terrorism, and cooperation in this area will be a top priority,” Ghomi, also the special presidential envoy for Afghanistan, wrote on X. The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, denounced the mosque shooting. “Investigations and accountability for perpetrators and protection measures for Afghanistan’s Shi'a communities are urgently needed,” the UNAMA stated on X. IS-K has also routinely plotted deadly bomb attacks against leaders and prominent religious scholars linked to the ruling Taliban. The violence has increased since the then-insurgent Taliban reclaimed power in 2021 when the United States and NATO withdrew their troops from Afghanistan after 20 years of war with the Taliban.