Almost 20 killed in suicide attack in eastern Afghanistan

[Abdullah719]

KABUL — A suicide attack outside a building where President Ashraf Ghani was meeting with locals in eastern Afghanistan killed nearly 20 people on Sunday, officials said.

Most of the victims were members of the Sikh and Hindu minority groups who were on their way to the meeting, being held in the Nangahar governor’s compound in the heart of the province’s capital, residents said.

Jalalabad, the provincial capital, lies near the border with Pakistan.

“We have received 19 bodies and 20 wounded,” Najibullah Kamawal, the head of Nangahar public health department, said by phone.

It was unclear whether the attack was aimed at Ghani’s visit. No group immediately asserted responsibility for it. Both Taliban insurgents and affiliates of the Islamic State militant group are active in the province.

Ghani was visiting Nangahar to inaugurate a hospital complex and, earlier in the day, had urged security officials to take immediate steps to suppress insurgents in the province.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/worl...7b3334-7d3f-11e8-bb6b-c1cb691f1402_story.html

 

[troodon]

India should invite all Sikh and Hindu Afghans to India. They need to be settled in India until Afghanistan becomes stable.

 

[blackanhyellow]

India should invite all Sikh and Hindu Afghans to India. They need to be settled in India until Afghanistan becomes stable.

Why only Hindu and Sikh Afghans?

The Muslim Afghans are also targets.

They don't deserve India's generosity?

 

[Swashbuckler]

Hindus in Pakistan? I have seen documentaries showing that Afghanistan has a few hundred Sikhs remaining but read a piece a few years back that there is not a single Hindu left in the country. RIP to the victims, how cruel that they are being butchered even though there are so few left? Shame on the evil terrorists.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Why only Hindu and Sikh Afghans?

The Muslim Afghans are also targets.

They don't deserve India's generosity?

Maybe he was indicating that it will be easier to accommodate 100 odd Sikhs rather than 20 million Afghan Muslims. Let us admit it, there is a lot of opposition to immigration in every single country. I come from a state which houses lakhs of Sri Lankan refugees and it is difficult even though they share the same language and culture as Indian Tamils. Now there is pressure to send them back by the same people who welcomed them in the first place.

 

[Gabbar Singh]

Hindus in Pakistan? I have seen documentaries showing that Afghanistan has a few hundred Sikhs remaining but read a piece a few years back that there is not a single Hindu left in the country. RIP to the victims, how cruel that they are being butchered even though there are so few left? Shame on the evil terrorists.

There are probably only a couple of hundred Hindus left + 1000-2000 Sikhs.

https://www.tolonews.com/afghanistan/nearly-99-hindus-sikhs-left-afghanistan-last-three-decades

https://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/f...n-hindu-sikh-communities-161225082540860.html

Regardless of the faith or ethnicity of those killed this is another mindless and hideous attack by the Taliban.

 

[blackanhyellow]

Maybe he was indicating that it will be easier to accommodate 100 odd Sikhs rather than 20 million Afghan Muslims. Let us admit it, there is a lot of opposition to immigration in every single country. I come from a state which houses lakhs of Sri Lankan refugees and it is difficult even though they share the same language and culture as Indian Tamils. Now there is pressure to send them back by the same people who welcomed them in the first place.

Yes but if you have the capacity to take in 100 refugees, why do they all have to be sikhs and hindus?

Its an odd statement considering how India and Afghanistan are the best of friends and Afghanistan is overwhelmingly Muslim.

Why not do a lottery and let fate decide who should get refuge in India? Rather than choosing based on religion.

FYI India has more Muslims than Sikhs, so commonality in religion is not an answer.

 

[Swashbuckler]

Yes but if you have the capacity to take in 100 refugees, why do they all have to be sikhs and hindus?

Its an odd statement considering how India and Afghanistan are the best of friends and Afghanistan is overwhelmingly Muslim.

Why not do a lottery and let fate decide who should get refuge in India? Rather than choosing based on religion.

FYI India has more Muslims than Sikhs, so commonality in religion is not an answer.

Yes we should take Muslims too, maybe take in 100 Sikhs and 500 more severely persecuted Muslims and Ahmadis. Thing is at some point when normalcy restores in Afghanistan Muslims will be much safer with significant numbers. But I don't think Sikhs will even be a factor then, from 100s of 1000s they are reduced to a few 100s now, so the trend is worrying and at some point (very soon) they may all get killed if terrorism continues this way. Priority should be to save this group which is fast becoming extinct, later they can be rehabilitated in Afghanistan if possible and if they wish. My point isn't limited to Sikhs, if other groups like Ahmadis, Christians or even some other sects of Islam are facing the threat of being wiped out over there, India should accommodate them.

 

[Arham_PakFan]

Grief mixed with anger among Afghanistan's minority Sikh and Hindu community on Monday as they prepared for funerals of loved ones, including an election candidate, killed in a suicide attack.

At least 19 people were killed and 21 wounded when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowd of Afghan Sikhs and Hindus waiting to meet President Ashraf Ghani in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday.

Scores of mourners shouted “death to Ashraf Ghani” and “death to the government” as they placed coffins in ambulances that would take them to a temple for funeral ceremonies.

Among the dead were 17 Sikhs and Hindus, officials said, including Avtar Singh, the only Sikh candidate running in the October 20 legislative elections, and Rawail Singh, a prominent social activist.
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“This attack has killed many of our elders, those who loved their country more than anything else,” Narendar Singh told AFP as he took the body of his father, Avtar Singh, from the hospital.

“We were the direct target. The government really does not care about us. We used to be a huge community but most of us have left.”

Around 1,000 Sikhs and Hindus are estimated to reside in what is otherwise an overwhelmingly Muslim nation.

The vast majority live in Jalalabad as well as the southeastern city of Ghazni and the Afghan capital Kabul.

The militant Islamic State (IS) group claimed responsibility for the attack, the latest carried out by the militants in the restive province where they have a foothold.

Ghani was in Jalalabad on Sunday as part of a two-day visit to the province. He was not harmed.

Singh said a group of 20 Sikhs and Hindus had planned to meet with Ghani in the morning at the provincial governor's compound but the meeting was postponed until the afternoon.

As their convoy neared the compound, they were stopped by security forces and ordered to get out of their cars to be checked.

“That is when a suicide bomber on foot detonated among us,” Singh said.

Jagandar Singh, who lost his brother in the attack, said the mourners would consider taking to “the streets in Kabul” to express their anger at the government's inability to protect civilians.

“We have lost hope with this government,” he said.

“Muslims, Hindus and Sikhs are all brothers but unfortunately under this government none of them is safe.”

IS was not part of the government's recent 18-day ceasefire with the Taliban that expired on Friday.

The government's unilateral truce overlapped with the Taliban's three-day ceasefire for Eid. It was marred by two suicide attacks in Nangarhar that were claimed by IS.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1417460/afghan-sikhs-hindus-grieve-after-suicide-attack-kills-19

 

[troodon]

Why only Hindu and Sikh Afghans?

The Muslim Afghans are also targets.

They don't deserve India's generosity?

I will first take the Sikhs and Hindus and then Afghan Muslims.

Hindus and Sikhs have no other country to go. India and may be Nepal are their only options. Afghan Muslims have multiple options to choose from neighboring countries.

 

[Pakistanian]

Afghanistan is a failed state.

 

[ZenBowman]

Yes but if you have the capacity to take in 100 refugees, why do they all have to be sikhs and hindus?

Its an odd statement considering how India and Afghanistan are the best of friends and Afghanistan is overwhelmingly Muslim.

Why not do a lottery and let fate decide who should get refuge in India? Rather than choosing based on religion.

FYI India has more Muslims than Sikhs, so commonality in religion is not an answer.

1) Sikhs and Hindus are a persecuted minority in Afghanistan.
2) There would be near-zero public opposition to giving Sikhs refuge in India, because they are seen as "apne".

 

[Pakistanian]

1) Sikhs and Hindus are a persecuted minority in Afghanistan.
2) There would be near-zero public opposition to giving Sikhs refuge in India, because they are seen as "apne".

On sikh forums they're petitioning for afghan Sikhs to relocate to a western country, they don't feel like they're safe in India.

 

[troodon]

On sikh forums they're petitioning for afghan Sikhs to relocate to a western country, they don't feel like they're safe in India.

Who would want to immigrate to India when Europe is available.

 

[moghul]

Bring them to Pakistan, they will be welcomed here, Peshawar or Punjab. Yes, unfortunately there was a Sikh murdered recently in Peshawar but Sikhs were not the only people became victims of terrorism. Now security has improved to a great extend and country expected to become even more stable after the elections, Afghan Sikhs will be happy in Pakistan.

 

[KingKhanWC]

Disgusting act , RIP.

Indian has been in Afghanistan since the invasion but has done little to help them protect innocent people. The reason is India doesnt want peace in Afghanistan because it knows with continued conflict, they will continue to have a presence. The Afghans need to wake up and understand India is no real friend even if it let's their cricket team play in their nation, which is nothing more than windowdressing.

Kick out India and the foriegn armies and you might see some peace Afghans.

 

[troodon]

Looks like many are considering India as destination. Good for them. They will be safe in India.


https://in.yahoo.com/news/cannot-live-afghanistans-sikhs-weigh-future-suicide-bombing-091103249.html

KABUL (Reuters) - Many among Afghanistan's dwindling Sikh minority are considering leaving for neighboring India, after a suicide bombing in the eastern city of Jalalabad on Sunday killed at least 13 members of the community.

The victims of the attack claimed by militant group Islamic State included Avtar Singh Khalsa, the only Sikh candidate in parliamentary elections this October, and Rawail Singh, a prominent community activist.

"I am clear that we cannot live here anymore," said Tejvir Singh, 35, whose uncle was killed in the blast.

"Our religious practices will not be tolerated by the Islamic terrorists. We are Afghans. The government recognizes us, but terrorists target us because we are not Muslims," added Singh, the secretary of a national panel of Hindus and Sikhs.

The Sikh community now numbers fewer than 300 families in Afghanistan, which has only two gurdwaras, or places of worship, one each in Jalalabad and Kabul, the capital, Singh added.

Although almost entirely a Muslim country, Afghanistan was home to as many as 250,000 Sikhs and Hindus before a devastating civil war in the 1990s.

Even a decade ago, the U.S. State Department said in a report, about 3,000 Sikhs and Hindus still lived there.

Despite official political representation and freedom of worship, many face prejudice and harassment as well as violence from militant Islamist groups, prompting thousands to move to India, their spiritual homeland.

Following the Jalalabad attack, some Sikhs have sought shelter at the city's Indian consulate.

"We are left with two choices: to leave for India or to convert to Islam," said Baldev Singh, who owns a book- and textile shop in Jalalabad.

India has issued long-term visas to members of Afghanistan's Sikh and Hindu communities.

"They can all live in India without any limitation," said Vinay Kumar, India's ambassador to Afghanistan. "The final call has to be taken by them. We are here to assist them."

Kumar, who was in the Indian capital, New Delhi, to discuss the security situation, said the government was helping organize the last rites of Sikhs killed in the blast.

"WE ARE NOT LEAVING"

But other Sikhs, with land or businesses and no ties to India, say they do not plan to leave, as Afghanistan remains their country. India has offered to take the dead bodies, but at least nine were cremated according to Sikh rites in Jalalabad.

"We are not cowards," said Sandeep Singh, a Sikh shopkeeper in Kabul. "Afghanistan is our country and we are not leaving anywhere."

The attack targeted "Afghanistan's multicultural fabric", Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Monday. He is expected to hold a meeting to discuss the security threats to Indian and religious minorities.

India, a longstanding ally of Afghanistan, has invested in several large development projects, but heightened security risks have prompted its companies to cut back operations.

The two countries' officials have not been able to free seven Indian engineers kidnapped in May in the northern province of Baghlan.

(Additional reporting by Ahmad Sultan in Jalalabad, Qadir Sediqi in Kabul, Editing by James Mackenzie and Clarence Fernandez)

 

[Swashbuckler]

Disgusting act , RIP.

Indian has been in Afghanistan since the invasion but has done little to help them protect innocent people. The reason is India doesnt want peace in Afghanistan because it knows with continued conflict, they will continue to have a presence. The Afghans need to wake up and understand India is no real friend even if it let's their cricket team play in their nation, which is nothing more than windowdressing.

Kick out India and the foriegn armies and you might see some peace Afghans.

India is not a major player in that region. India hasn't sent troops like Western powers, there are a few hundred construction workers, aid workers, teachers, doctors etc. GOI is building infrastructure projects (eg Salma Dam, steel plants, roads) and social sector (education, hospitals) projects and that is the limit of our influence. Unlike Pakistan, China, Russia, USA etc even in talks India doesn't participate. India may not be a friend but is certainly no enemy. You will need to provide proof that India is blocking peace efforts or curbing attempts to stop terror.

Afghanistan is in dire straits and doesn't require outsiders for Afghans to kill each other, has Pakistan a fellow Islamic neighbor been able to influence the terrorists to give up arms? Besides groups like IS are savage heartless maniacs who have no humanity left in them and who love to indulge in violence. We are unable to stop terror attacks in Kashmir, North East and Central India, how can we stop them in a distant country? Moreover there have been many terror attacks on Indian volunteers who are risking their lives to help Afghans, so castigating India as an evil influence in a thread about an IS terror attack is unwarranted.

 

[blackanhyellow]

I will first take the Sikhs and Hindus and then Afghan Muslims.

Hindus and Sikhs have no other country to go. India and may be Nepal are their only options. Afghan Muslims have multiple options to choose from neighboring countries.

What choices do Afghan muslims have?

Pakistan and Iran are already hosting millions of refugees for last 30 years.

Also, India is probably in the best financial situation out of the two countries.

Not to mention India has the best relationship with the Afghan government.

 

[blackanhyellow]

1) Sikhs and Hindus are a persecuted minority in Afghanistan.
2) There would be near-zero public opposition to giving Sikhs refuge in India, because they are seen as "apne".

1) So are Hazaras. But they are Muslims.

2) I think that is wrong, because India has more muslims than sikhs. Why are muslims not seen as apne? That makes no sense. Indians tell us Pakistanis how muslims are so prominent and loved in India (i.e. Salman Khan, Sharukh Khan,etc...).

I am not saying don't take in Sikhs and hindus, all I am saying is there are many muslims suffering there too. India should make good on its deep friendship with Afghanistan and help them out.