A large explosion went off during Friday prayers at a Shiite Mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar which has killed at least 35 people. This is the 2nd week in a row that a Shiite Mosque has been bombed in Afghanistan . While no one has claimed responsibility for this attack yet the previous attack was claimed by the Islamic State Korasan province, a militant Sunni group which views Shiite Muslims as heretical unbelievers who deserve death.
Shiites make up around 7%-15% of Afghanistan’s population and faced heavy repression during the last reign of the Taliban over Afghanistan in the 90s and the violence committed against Shiites almost led to war between Shitte Iran and the Taliban.
The recent spate of attacks have caused panic in the Afghan Shiite community who fear that with the Taliban now back in power nothing will be done to protect them from Sunni hardline groups.
In a statement released by the Taliban, the group said it would bring the perpetrators of the bombing to justice “under Islamic law” however some analyists are skeptical that the group will prioritise the defence of Shittes as it shares many of the Islamic State’s views on Shia Islam.
Despite the Biden administration’s claims that the Taliban would be America’s partners in fighting the Islamic State in Afghanistan, the group has rejected any cooperation with the U.S. saying that it would deal with its own problems without American assistance.