A deadly bomb blast at the entrance of the famous Eidgah mosque in Kabul has killed a “number of civilians dead,” and once again messaged resistance to the imposition of the Taliban’s rule in Afghanistan.
The bomb blast was also meant to send a personal message to the Taliban leadership that it could be in the firing line. The explosion took place when memorial service was being held for the mother, who passed away last week, of Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid.
News agency AP said that no one immediately claimed responsibility for the bomb attack.
But analysts say that the Islamic State-Khorasan (ISKP) could be behind the attack. The ISKP has a strong presence in the eastern province of Nangarhar, and has carried out a number of attacks in the provincial capital Jalalabad.
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Analysts point out that though the Pakistani spy agency, ISI had infiltrated the ISKP and, had in fact planted its asset Aslam Farooqi as its leader, there has since been bitter infighting in the ranks of the ISKP, led by the Central Asian Jihadis, to weed out Pakistani influence, under the alternate leadership of Moawiya.
Unsurprisingly, the ISKP has stepped up attacks in Afghanistan after the Taliban, whose core, in the form of the Haqqani network, is dominated by the ISI, seized power in Kabul on August 15. It had earlier carried out a deadly blast at the Kabul airport during the evacuation by US and allied forces killing over 180 people including many US soldiers.
In a separate incident, three people including a journalist were killed in a shooting in Jalalabad city after gunmen opened fire on them on Saturday evening. Journalist and author Sayyed Marof Saadat was traveling with his relatives in a car when gunmen in a rickshaw opened fire on them.
The Taliban is also confronting serious economic difficulties. Afghanistan is experiencing a serious humanitarian crisis and a socio-economic collapse is looming in the country which would be dangerous for Afghans, the region and international security, a top European Union official said on Sunday.
Food prices in the country have jumped more than 50% since the Taliban took power in August with the economy battered by a severe drought.
The Afghan banking system is largely paralysed, with people unable to withdraw money, while the country's health system, which was heavily dependent on foreign aid, is close to collapse, said Josep Borrell the EU’s foreign policy chief in a blog post.
