Pakistani group behind Kabul attack

A suicide attack here that left dozens of Shiite worshipers dead was apparently conducted by a militant group with a history of ties to Pakistan’s main intelligence service, a connection that threatened to escalate tensions in Afghanistan just as the United States plans its exit. The bombing and a second attack on Shiites in northern Afghanistan killed at least 60 people, including a US citizen, making Tuesday one of the deadliest days for civilians in the decade-long war. The strikes were highly unusual because they targeted members of Afghanistan’s Shiite minority, which was persecuted during the Taliban’s reign but which has not been a focus of insurgent bombings since the Taliban fell in 2001. The Taliban denied any role in Tuesday’s attacks. But a spokesman for the Pakistani militant group Lashkar-i-Jhangvi called a station operated by Radio Free Europe to assert responsibility. If the claim is true, it would mark the first time that the group, which has ties to Al-Qaeda, has carried out a major attack in Afghanistan. Lashkar-i-Jhangvi militants have systematically assassinated Shiites and attacked their religious gatherings in Pakistan. If the group is extending operations into Afghanistan, it could add a highly destabilising sectarian dimension to the costly and protracted Afghan war. The attack could also worsen the already thorny relationship between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Afghan government and US officials have accused elements of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI) of helping to execute attacks in Afghanistan, including several recent high-profile strikes in Kabul. The ISI has supported Lashkar-i-Jhangvi in the past, though it is not known whether the organisations maintain ties. Pakistan has denied any role in attacks in Afghanistan. Relations between Pakistan and Afghanistan have been especially rocky in recent weeks, with Pakistan boycotting on Monday an international conference on the future of Afghanistan after a NATO airstrike last month killed 24 Pakistani troops. Afghan President Hamid Karzai, who was in Germany to attend the conference, condemned the attacks and offered condolences to relatives of those killed. “This is the act of enemies of Islam and Afghanistan who don’t want Afghan Muslims to live together and to be united,” he said in a statement. Karzai later canceled plans for a trip to Britain and flew back to Afghanistan. Tuesday’s noontime attack in downtown Kabul was carried out by a suicide bomber who approached the Abul Fazal Abbas shrine in the Murad Khani district on foot as worshipers were streaming in, authorities and witnesses said. The blast killed at least 56 people, said Gen. Mohammad Zahir, director of criminal investigations for the Kabul police department. The American citizen killed in the attack was not a US government employee, US Embassy spokeswoman Megan Ellis told the Associated Press. The attack occurred during Ashura commemorations, the holiest occasion of the year for Shiites.