Today, Monday, the Islamic State group, on the Telegram platform, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing that took place in the morning near the Russian embassy in the Afghan capital, Kabul.
The Russian Foreign Ministry and Afghan officials said earlier that two employees of the Russian embassy in Kabul were among the eight killed when a suicide bomber blew himself up near the entrance to the embassy, in an attack that also left at least 10 wounded.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said that an unidentified gunman detonated an explosive device near the embassy, killing two employees of the diplomatic mission.
"Our embassy in Kabul is in close contact with the Afghan security services that are investigating the attack," she added.
Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that his country hopes to find the perpetrators of the "terrorist attack" as soon as possible, stressing that the Russian embassy in Kabul has strengthened security and brought in additional forces from the Afghan authorities.
For its part, the Afghan Foreign Ministry said that the security services have launched a comprehensive investigation into the incident and will take more serious steps for the security of the embassy.
"We strongly condemn this incident and express our condolences to the Russian government, its people and the families of the victims," she added.
Kabul police spokesman Khaled Zadaran said in a statement that a suicide bomber wanted to blow himself up in a crowd of people near the Russian embassy, but before he reached the target, the security forces confronted him and shot him, causing what he was carrying to explode.
After the attack, the Afghan police closed all roads leading to the Russian embassy.
It is noteworthy that this suicide attack is the first attack on a diplomatic mission in Afghanistan since the return of the Taliban movement to power in August 2021.
It also comes just two days after the deaths and injuries of an explosion targeting a religious school last Saturday in the Nad Ali district of Helmand province in the south of the country, and 52 people were killed in an explosion targeting a mosque in Herat, western Afghanistan.