Taliban refugee minister Khalil Haqqani, a senior member of the Haqqani network, was killed in a suicide bombing at his ministry in Kabul.
The attack, which claimed six other lives, marks the Taliban’s most notable loss since regaining control of Afghanistan in 2021.
The Islamic State group (IS) claimed responsibility for the bombing, stating through its Amaq news agency that an IS militant detonated explosives as Haqqani exited his office. The Taliban later confirmed IS’s involvement.
Haqqani was part of a powerful Taliban faction founded by his brother Jalaluddin Haqqani, a prominent anti-Soviet guerrilla leader. His nephew, Sirajuddin Haqqani, currently serves as Afghanistan’s interior minister.
While security in Afghanistan has improved since the Taliban’s takeover and the departure of foreign troops in 2021, bombings and suicide attacks, often carried out by the Taliban’s rival, the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), remain frequent.
