Taliban minister killed in suicide bombing in Kabul

The Taliban’s refugee minister Khalil Haqqani has been killed in a suicide bombing inside the interior ministry in Kabul, the movement’s most high-profile casualty since returning to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Interior Ministry sources said six others were killed in the blast as Haqqani was leaving his office.

Khalil Haqqani was a top member of a powerful faction of the Taliban called the Haqqani Network and was designated a global terrorist by the US.

There was no immediate claim for the attack, with the Taliban blaming Islamic State militants for carrying it out.

Khalil Haqqani’s brother Jalaluddin was a well-known guerrilla leader who fought Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s and founded the Haqqani network, which was behind many attacks during the Taliban’s 20-year insurgency.

The minister’s nephew and Jalaluddin’s son Sirajuddin Haqqani is the current interior minister in the Taliban government.

While the overall security situation in Afghanistan has improved since the Taliban gained full control with the complete withdrawal of foreign troops in 2021, dozens of bombings and suicide attacks continue to occur in the country every year.

It has been claimed by many Islamic State Khorasan Provinceor ISKP, a regional affiliate of the so-called Islamic State group, a major rival of the Taliban.