Several Sikhs feared dead in Gurudwara terror attack in Kabul

Kabul: Several members of the Sikh community were feared to have been killed in a terror attack on a Gurudwara in central Kabul on Wednesday.

Sources said Afghan security forces were engaged in a gun battle with terrorists who stormed Gurudwara in the Shorbazar area Wednesday morning. Around 150 people were worshipping in the Gurudwara at the time of the attack.

However, the security forces, sources said, rescued some worshippers from the Gurudwara. The Sikhs constitute a minuscule minority in Afghanistan.

The Ashraf Ghani government has blamed the Pakistan-backed Haqqani network for the terror attack.

However, the Taliban has denied involvement in the attack on the Sikh shrine. Though the US and Taliban have signed a peace deal, violence in Afghanistan remains unabated.

Reacting to the terror attack, India's Housing and Urban Minister and a former diplomat Hardeep Singh Puri on Wednesday tweeted, "Suicide attack on a Gurudwara Sahib in Kabul needs to be strongly condemned. These killings are a grim reminder of atrocities that continue to be inflicted upon religious minorities in some countries and the urgency with which their lives and religious freedom have to be safeguarded."