An ISIS suicide bomber struck a Shia cultural centre in Kabul on Thursday, killing at least 41 people and underscoring the extremist group’s growing reach in Afghanistan even as its self-styled caliphate in Iraq and Syria has been dismantled.
The attack may have targeted the pro-Iran Afghan Voice news agency housed in the two-storey building.
The Sunni extremists of ISIS view Shia Muslims as apostates and have repeatedly attacked Afghanistan’s Shia minority and targets linked to neighbouring Iran.
The attack wounded more than 80 people, many of whom suffered severe burns. The main explosion was followed by two smaller bomb blasts as victims and survivors were leaving the scene. An Afghan Voice Agency journalist said more than 100 people were there in building’s basement.