The images of soldiers running out of the delivery clinic in Kabul on Tuesday carrying babies wrapped in bloodstained blankets are difficult to shake off. Eyewitnesses at the scene confirmed that the perpetrators entered the hospital area disguised as police uniforms, and that they opened fire indiscriminately in all rooms at the delivery clinic.

At least 24 people were killed in the attack, hospital staff, newly delivered mothers and two infants who were only a few hours old.

The US points out IS

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani has singled out the Sunni extremist Taliban movement, while US special envoy in Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad says he has evidence that IS is behind the brutal act at the delivery clinic.

In the area of ​​western Kabul, where the hospital is located, many Shi'ite Hazarans live, and the area has previously been the target of attacks carried out by the local IS group Islamic State in Khorasan. The group has taken on several acts in the Afghan capital recently. On Monday, the country's security forces stated that three high-ranking members of the terrorist sector have been arrested.

On the same day, IS conducted a suicide attack during a funeral ceremony in Nangarhar Province, Afghanistan. 32 people were killed and 130 people injured.

Escalation

Assessors agree that IS has stepped up its attacks during the corona pandemic. In April, 110 incidents in Iraq were reported as the terrorist sect - including an advanced attack on security forces north of Baghdad where ten militia members were killed.

By stepping up the attacks in April and May, the Islamic State is also sticking to its previous threat of increasing the level of violence during the holy month of fasting Ramadan.

In the terrorists' propaganda, the corona virus has been portrayed as a divine punishment against China, a warning to Shi'ite Muslims in Iran and a vengeance against the Western world. Members of the Middle East have been warned to travel to Europe but have asked sympathizers in Europe to perform deeds on the spot.

Attacks have also taken place in the Philippines, where terrorists loyal to IS killed 11 soldiers in a military convoy in Sulu province in mid-April. Even in the Maldives and Mozambique, as well as in Egypt and Yemen, supporters of the terrorist sector have taken on a recent act.