The Taliban’s refugee minister, Khalil Haqqani, has been killed in a suicide bombing in Kabul, the highest death toll for the group since it returned to Afghanistan in 2021.
Six others were killed in the explosion when Haqqani was leaving his office, sources from the Ministry of Interior said.
Khalil Haqqani was a senior member of a powerful Taliban group called the Haqqani network, and was designated a global terrorist by the US.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, which the Taliban blamed on Islamic State militants.
Khalil Haqqani’s brother Jalaluddin was a notorious insurgent leader who fought against Soviet forces in Afghanistan in the 1980s, and founded the Haqqani network that was responsible for many attacks during the Taliban’s 20-year insurgency.
Sirajuddin Haqqani, the minister’s nephew and Jalaluddin’s son, is the current interior minister in the Taliban government.
While the overall security situation in Afghanistan has improved since the Taliban regained full control with the complete withdrawal of foreign troops in 2021, dozens of bombings and suicide bombings continue in the country each year.
Many have been wanted by Islamic State Khorasan Provinceor ISKP, a regional subsidiary of the so-called Islamic State, the Taliban’s arch-rival.
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