KABUL (Al Jazeera) – At least two people have been killed and seven others injured following an attack on a Sikh temple in the Afghan capital, Kabul, officials said.
A Taliban interior ministry spokesman told Reuters news agency that attackers had laden a car with explosives but it had detonated before reaching its target.
Taliban authorities were securing the site, he added.
A spokesman for the commander of Kabul’s security forces said soldiers have taken control of the area and cleared it of attackers. One Sikh worshipper and a Taliban militant have been killed during the clearing operation, he added.
Members of the Sikh community said they were prevented from entering the building by the Taliban.
“There were around 30 people inside the temple. We don’t know how many of them are alive or how many dead. The Taliban are not allowing us to go inside, we don’t know what to do,” Gornam Singh told news agencies on Saturday.
“I heard gunshots and blasts coming from the gurdwara,” Singh added.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attack.
Local broadcaster Tolo aired footage showing heavy grey fumes of smoke rising from the area.
Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers say they have secured the country since taking power in August, but international officials and analysts say the risk of a resurgence in violence remains.
Multiple attacks have taken place in recent months, with some claimed by the Daesh terrorist group.
Religious minorities in Afghanistan have been the target of rampant attacks.
The Shia Hazara community, another minority in Afghanistan, has been the main target of frequent bomb attacks and explosions in the war-ravaged country.
On Friday, an explosion at a mosque in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz left one person dead and two others wounded.
Last month, three deadly explosions tore through passenger vehicles in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif and a separate one hit a mosque in Kabul, killing several people.
Back in April, a powerful blast hit a mosque in western Kabul during prayers, killing at least 10 people and wounding 20 others.
The Taliban took over the country in August 2021 after the withdrawal of U.S. troops, who invaded the country more than two decades ago to topple the Taliban.
The upward number of attacks in recent months has been linked to the Daesh terrorist group’s resurgence in the country.