Pakistan condemns attack on Sikh temple in Kabul

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Saturday strongly condemned a gun and suicide attack on a Sikh temple in Kabul and expressed remorse over the loss of precious lives, ARY NEWS reported.

In a statement issued today, the Foreign Office spokesman said that multiple people sustained injuries besides also infrastructural losses in the attack.

He expressed concern over a series of attacks on religious places in Afghanistan during the past few days and said that Pakistan once again reiterates its resolve against all sorts of terrorism.

“We express solidarity with the people of Afghanistan and support measures from the Afghan authorities to safeguard their citizens,” the Foreign Office said.

According to a Reuters report, an attack on a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital of Kabul killed at least two people and injured seven on Saturday, following a blast in a car loaded with explosives, officials said, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Grey smoke billowed over the area in images aired by domestic broadcaster Tolo. A Taliban interior spokesman said attackers had laden a car with explosives but it had detonated before reaching its target.

Taliban authorities were securing the site, he added.

“There were around 30 people inside the temple,” said a temple official, Gornam Singh. “We don’t know how many of them are alive or how many dead.”

Temple authorities did not know what to do, as the Taliban were not allowing them inside, Singh told Reuters.

A spokesman for Kabul’s commander said his forces had taken control of the area and cleared it of attackers. One Sikh worshipper had been killed in the attack and one Taliban fighter killed during the clearing operation, he added.