Taliban minister killed in bombing in Kabul

Taliban refugee minister Khalil Haqqani has been killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, the movement’s most high profile casualty since it returned to power in Afghanistan in 2021.

Six others died in the blast as Haqqani was leaving his office, interior ministry sources said.

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

There was no immediate claim for the attack, which the Taliban accused Islamic State militants of carrying out.

Khalil Haqqani’s brother Jalaluddin was a famous 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.

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

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

Many have been claimed by Islamic State Khorasan Province, or ISKP, the regional affiliate of the so-called Islamic State group, a major rival of the Taliban.