An Afghan minister’s burial was marked by hundreds of attendees. On Wednesday, a suicide explosion in the capital murdered the refugee minister of Taliban administration. The Islamic State organization took responsibility for the terrorist act.
Khalil Haqqani’s burial was place in the district of Paktia in eastern Afghanistan. The most recognized victim of an attack in Afghanistan since the Taliban retook over in 2021 was the effectively the minister of refugees and repatriation in Afghanistan.
On top of five others, Haqqani perished in a bomb in his office in the capital on Wednesday. He had been the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the head of a significant Taliban group and the temporary interior minister of Taliban government. Both men are wanted by the United States.
Senior authorities participated the burial were under extreme security measures. Taliban’s Deputy Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir along with Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi were among those present.
The casket, covered in the Taliban flag, was being protected by uniformed guards. The funeral ceremony in Paktia’s Garda Serai area was planned to be covered by both domestic and foreign journalists.
The mourning was led in prayers by Sirajuddin Haqqani. They assembled on a broad expanse with rocky mountains in the background.
According to the interim interior minister, the United States proposed a $5 million bounty for intelligence his nephew. The suicide explosion was staged out by one of IS militants, according to an announcement published by the Amaq Press. Amaq is an IS terrorist’s regional component.
An authorized source from the Haqqanis’ homeland of Paktia provided an alternative version of events. The source was forbidden to speak to the media outlets, so he talked anonymously. Notwithstanding triggering an alert on the body scanning device, the attacker managed to enter the ministry’s building. According to the source, he informed the security officer that he was holding pieces of metal in his body. He stated that that he had been a refugee as well.
The official went on to say that Haqqani accommodated guests with impairments and refugees at his workplace. The officer stated that the attacker exploded the bombs as he headed on his way to the office after the minister finished worshipping in the mosque within the building.
The attack was denounced by the United Nations mission in the country. “Terrorism has no place in the pursuit of stability,” the mission stated on X.
Pakistan, a key neighbor, has also voiced dismay over what happened. Hours after the attack, Afghanistan’s permanent representative posted on social media that the Pakistani administration was in sympathy with Afghanistan. He reaffirmed its will to cooperate with Afghanistan in the battle against extremism and violence. In the past, the IS offshoot, a significant adversary of the Taliban government, has bombed locations around Afghanistan. However, after the Taliban took over three years ago, suicide strikes have decreased in frequency.
