A deadly suicide bombing was carried out on a Shia mosque in Gardiz City, the provincial capital of eastern Paktia province on Friday afternoon, killing at least 39 people and nearly 81 people were injured. According to media reports, When the people were offering the Friday prayer, two suicide bombers entered Sahib-ul-Zaman Mosque in Khwaja Hassan area in Gardez’s PD2 at around 1:20pm Kabul time. As quoted by eyewitness, the assailants had entered the prayer hall and were wearing full-face veils. they used hand grenades against worshippers inside the mosque while there were at least 600 people inside the mosque when the attacks happened. “We were praying. Two suicide bombers blew their suicide vests here,” a resident of Gardez said. “Which kind of government is this? There is no ambulance, no assistance,” a resident of Gardez said. Other Paktia residents said security agencies had not informed them of a possible attack in the area.
As the media described, the blood of the worshippers had painted the walls of the mosque... There were pieces of glass scattered all over which indicate to be the latest enormous attack on cities across the country. However, a series of smaller event happened on the same day. firstly, 11 people were killed in the western province of Farah when a bus was hit by a roadside bomb in what was believed to be a Taliban attack. Secondly, 22 people were abducted by unknown assailants from vehicles on a highway linking Kabul and Gardez on the same day.
the Taliban has denied the responsibility for the attack but militant group Islamic State (IS) has claimed responsibility for attacks on Shi’ite mosques. Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group try to overthrow the Western-backed government and impose a harsh form of self-interpreted Islamic law. But they are fiercely divided over leadership, ideology and tactics, and have clashed on a number of occasions. IS views Shiites as apostates deserving of death. In the last two years, IS has attacked 24 Shiite cultural centers, mosques and schools, said Mohammad Jawad Ghawary, a member of the Shiite cleric council.”In Afghanistan they are the biggest threat for Shiites,” he said. He called on the Afghan government and the international community to do more to protect Shiites.
As usual, many countries such as Iran, Pakistan, Qatar and etc strongly condemned the bombing on innocent worshipers, man women and children. They expressed their condolences to the victims’ families, the government and the people of Afghanistan, wishing the injured a speedy recovery. And also, they reiterated that terrorism is the common enemy in all forms and manifestations.
The Ex-president, Hamid Karzai also denunciated the deadly terrorist attack. “Unfortunately, I have been informed that outsiders as part of their machination against the people of Afghanistan have perpetrated yet another inhumane crime and martyred and harmed dozens of our countrymen during Friday’s congregational prayers,” he said. “It is incumbent on the government to unfetter the country, through a national consensus, from explicit conspiracies of foreigners that is taking toll on people and nudging the country towards annihilation.”He prayed for the soul of the martyrs, fortitude for the bereaved families, and quick recovery for the injured.
Anyway, this is not the first time that mosques and other holy places are targeted by terrorist groups, and the black-hearted enemies of Islam and Afghanistan have previously killed and injured thousands of pious and faithful during their prayers time in the cities of Kabul, Herat and Mazar-e-Sharif. They carried out such brutal attacks with the aim of creating a rift between two Muslim brothers (Shiite Muslims and Sunni Muslims) that have long lived in their common home, defended it against the foreign conspiracies and invasion and have shared grieves and happiness with each other.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report last month that the number of civilians killed in Afghanistan reached a record high in the first half of the year, despite last month’s ceasefire, with a surge in suicide attacks claimed by Daesh. The report said that the covering period 1 January to 30 June 2018, findings include the killing of more civilians in the first six months of this year – 1,692 deaths – than at any comparable time over the last ten years since records have been kept. UNAMA attributed 52 per cent of civilian casualties from suicide and complex attacks to Daesh, mainly in Kabul and Nangarhar province. The Taliban were responsible for 40 per cent, the remainder were attributed to unidentified Anti-Government Elements.
So, the government and security forces deserve to be blamed for less attention in the security of people. If the security system is functional for people’s safety, we will not mourn our brothers and sisters. This is about 17 years that tourists successfully manage to enter the cities, town, markets mosques and etc and destroy everything but we have not learnt how control them. This not that much complicated because they do not come from the sky or they are invisible Ghosts; first, they come through the city gates which is open for everyone and everything.
There is no security screening device to detect the explosives and criminals. Second, where is the national security? Third, why the police repeatedly failed to control when the terrorists entered the mosques.
People do not blame the terrorist groups, because they are enemy and killing is their job. The nation blames their elected government and the security forces who have sworn to serve for the people’s protection. Now what the government will do is to replace some police officers. This is not enough and will not bring positive changes to the security situation experienced since 2001.The government needs to adopt comprehensive policies to root out the terrorism.
Use new technology, detective devices and very important to work with the foreign allies that has committed in the bilateral security pact to save Afghans from terrorist groups and foreign interference.