ISIS Claims Responsibility for Attack on Russian Embassy in Kabul

The terrorist organization ISIS (banned in Russia) claimed responsibility for the attack on the Russian embassy in Kabul, reported Reuters, citing the group’s statement in the Telegram channel.

An explosion in the immediate vicinity of the entrance to the consular section of the Russian Embassy in Kabul was staged by a suicide bomber today at 9:20 Moscow time, the Russian Foreign Ministry said earlier. Source “RIA Novosti” clarifiedthat the explosion occurred when a Russian diplomat stepped out to announce the names of visa applicants.

A suicide attack outside the Russian embassy killed and wounded at least 25 people, Al Jazeera reported. Two embassy employees were among the dead, a spokesman for the Russian Foreign Ministry confirmed.

According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, the security of the embassy by the Afghan authorities will be strengthened. He expressed hope that the organizers of the attack would be found and punished. Representative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the Taliban government (the Taliban movement is recognized as terrorist and banned in Russia) Abdul Kahar Balkhi on his Twitter page declaredthat the attack is an attempt to sabotage relations between Russia and Afghanistan, and expressed the hope that “such negative actions” will not affect them.

In early September, a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in Herat, killing about 20 people, including theologian Mujib ur-Rahman Ansari, who is close to the Taliban government. Earlier in August, preacher Rahimullah Haqqani, who is close to the Taliban government, was killed by a suicide bomber in Kabul.