For the first time ever, the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria is claiming responsibility for a terrorist attack in Afghanistan, which killed dozens of people Saturday morning.
As Afghan government workers waited in line for paychecks outside New Kabul bank in Jalalabad, a suicide bomber on a motorbike detonated a vest filled with explosives. Authorities say the attack killed at least 33 people and injured more than 100, in the country’s worst suicide attack this year.
While the Taliban was first thought to have been responsible for the attack, the group quickly denied involvement.
Instead, the Islamic State’s regional branch claimed responsibility for the killings, but that hasn’t yet been independently verified according to several news reports. If true, it would mark the first time for the Syria and Iraq-based movement to carry out a violent assault in Afghanistan. The group has said it intends to expand to that country and Pakistan.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan’s highest elected official also pointed at the Islamic State as the culprit.
“Today the deadly attack in Nangarhar Province — who claimed responsibility?” Afghan President Ashraf Ghani told a nationwide audience in a televised address. “Taliban did not claim responsibility, but Daesh claimed responsibility.” The Arabic acronym for the Islamic State is “Daesh.”
The group’s regional branch is circulating among reporters an alleged photo of the suicide bomber, which depicts a man with a scarf covering his face and a Kalashnikov rifle by his side, with a black Islamic State flag in the background. His name was Abu Mohammad, the group says.
The Islamic State didn’t claim responsibility for two separate blasts that also occurred Saturday morning in Jalalabad but didn’t kill anyone.
This story has been updated to reflect comments by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani.
