Khalil Haqqani, the Taliban’s refugee minister, has died following a suicide bombing at his ministry in Kabul. This incident marks the most significant loss for the movement since it regained control of Afghanistan in 2021.
According to sources from the interior ministry, six additional individuals lost their lives in the explosion that occurred as Haqqani was departing from his office.
Khalil Haqqani held a prominent position within the influential Haqqani network, a faction of the Taliban, and was labelled a global terrorist by the United States.
The attack was later claimed by the Islamic State group (IS).
A report from IS’s “news agency” Amaq indicates that an IS militant positioned outside the minister’s office detonated explosives as the minister exited.
A spokesperson for the Taliban has confirmed that Haqqani was killed by IS, according to a report from Reuters news agency.
Khalil Haqqani’s brother, Jalaluddin, gained notoriety as a prominent guerrilla leader during the 1980s, leading efforts against Soviet forces in Afghanistan. He was also the founder of the Haqqani network, an organisation implicated in numerous attacks throughout the Taliban’s two-decade-long insurgency.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the minister’s nephew and son of Jalaluddin, is the interior minister in the Taliban administration.
Since the Taliban assumed complete control following the withdrawal of foreign troops in 2021, Afghanistan has seen an overall improvement in its security situation. However, the country still grapples with numerous bombings and suicide attacks annually.
The Islamic State Khorasan Province, known as ISKP, has claimed responsibility for numerous incidents, positioning itself as a significant adversary to the Taliban in the region.