Yesterday, gunmen stormed a Sikh and Hindu temple in central Kabul, in a new attack on religious minorities adopted by the terrorist "ISIS", which killed at least 25 civilians and injured eight others, while the UAE strongly condemned the attack, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation confirmed in a statement To her, the UAE expresses its strong condemnation of these criminal acts and its permanent rejection of all forms of violence and terrorism.

"Unfortunately, 25 civilians have been killed and eight others wounded," the Afghan Interior Ministry spokesman, Tariq Erian, said in a statement. This attack came as Afghanistan faced a host of crises, including attacks by the Taliban insurgent movement, a deadlocked political situation, and a significant reduction in US aid. And an increase in the number of new infections Coronavirus (Covid-19).

He explained that one of the attackers was also killed, while the security forces managed to save 80 people, who were stuck inside the temple in the center of the Afghan capital, and pictures, seen by Agence France-Presse, showed children crying during their evacuation, and the bodies and blood on the ground.

Anarkali Kaur Honariyar, the deputy who represents the Sikh community in the Afghan parliament, said that there were about 150 people in the temple, where a number of families lived, while others came to pray in it every morning, and added that «some of those inside the temple hid, closed Their phones ».

The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack, and the organization had adopted similar attacks that had occurred since 2015 in Afghanistan and targeted minorities. The organization had targeted several Sikhs and Hindus several times, including a suicide attack in Jalalabad, which killed 19 people and 21 wounded, in July. 2018.

Shortly after the attack began, the Taliban denied its relationship with it, and its spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said: “We have nothing to do with the attack.”

About 1,000 Sikhs and Hindus live in Afghanistan, of which Muslims constitute the overwhelming majority of its population.

This month, ISIS launched an attack on a political gathering in Kabul, killing 32 people and wounding dozens.

Washington announced this week to reduce aid to Afghanistan, and this decision came after the visit of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Kabul to settle a dispute between Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his opponent Abdullah Abdullah, who declared himself president after the controversial elections.

Pompeo, who criticized their "failure to reach an agreement", stressed that the United States would immediately reduce one billion dollars in aid, and was "ready" to deduct another billion in 2021, and other cuts thereafter.

Last month, the United States and the Taliban signed an agreement that was supposed to pave the way for talks between Afghan leaders and insurgents, but since Kabul was unable to agree on a government, those talks would be in place.

A cut in aid, for a country whose gross domestic product does not exceed $ 20 billion, is a severe blow to Afghanistan’s economy, which relies on donor assistance.

Meanwhile, the new Corona virus continues to spread in Afghanistan, and 74 infections and two deaths have been officially announced, but observers fear the toll will be much larger.

For its part, the US embassy condemned the attack on a Sikh temple in Afghanistan.

The attack came as Afghanistan faced attacks by the Taliban, a crisis situation, a reduction in American aid, and a rise in Corona casualties.