The Taliban claim that IS will not be able to attack foreign diplomatic missions in Kabul

Militants of the Islamic State terrorist group will not be capable to attack foreign embassies in Kabul because diplomatic areas are under special protection. This was stated by Zabihullah Mujahid, a representative of the interim Afghan government formed by the radical Taliban movement.

“[ISIS] militants in Afghanistan are under close surveillance by security forces. This means that [terrorists] are being actively pursued, and we are well aware of their activities,” Afghan TV channel TOLOnews quotes Mujahid as saying. The Taliban government spokesman noted that IS “does not have the capability to carry out any attacks in diplomatic areas because those are under special protection and special forces are on active duty there.”

According to TOLOnews, Mujahid’s comment was made after The New York Times (NYT) published an article about the activities of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP) group (an offshoot of the Islamic State in Afghanistan) in connection with the terrorist attack in the Moscow region. The article claims that terrorists fr om this group recently threatened to attack the embassies of China, India and Iran in Afghanistan. A Taliban government spokesman called the NYT publication an attempt to create fear to lim it the activity of foreign diplomats in Kabul.

On March 21, an explosion occurred at a New Kabul Bank branch in the city of Kandahar in southern Afghanistan. As TOLOnews TV channel reported, the attack on the bank branch was carried out by a suicide bomber. The Tasnim news agency, citing local sources, reported that the attack killed at least 19 people and injured more than 20. According to Al Jazeera, IS claimed responsibility for the attack.