IS Claims Responsibility for Bombing on Afghan Supreme Court
Twenty-four hours after the February 7th deadly suicide bombing on the Afghan Supreme Court in Kabul, the Khorasan Province of the Islamic State (IS) claimed responsibility for the attack. IS identified the bomber as Abu Bakr al-Tajiki, a Tajik national according to the SITE Intelligence Group. IS warned that “more devastating and bitter” attacks on Afghan courts and judicial staff members were to come in a statement released Thursday. The IS presents an ever growing threat and a rival to the Taliban.
As workers were leaving the parliament complex around 4pm, the suicide bomber entered the court’s parking area and detonated his suicide vest near an entrance where guards were performing security checks. Local police reported that 20 people were killed and 45 others were wounded in the explosion.
IS announced its expansion into Afghanistan in January of 2015 and has since secured footholds in at least four districts in the Nangarhar province. Initially, IS faced armed resistance from both the Afghan troops and the Taliban but in recent months their number of attacks has risen exponentially. IS increased its number of deaths and injuries from 82 in 2015 to 899 in 2016.
This increase in attacks can be credited to the fact that in mid-2016 IS altered its tactics and, according to the UN, “increased [its] ability to conduct large, deadly attacks against civilian targets in Kabul.” Last July IS carried out the first of four attacks on civilians in Kabul – a blast that targeted a Shia Muslim protest. The first three attacks all targeted Shia Muslims and the final attack targeted the Presidential Protection Service.
The Supreme Court bombing is the second major attack by IS on Kabul. The previous attack, deemed the deadliest attack since the Afghan war started in 2001, was in July 2016. IS triggered two explosions at a rally organized by the Shiite Hazaras that killed 80 people and wounded another 231.
An entire day passed before IS claimed responsibility for an attack that resembled previous Taliban attacks on Afghan judicial institutions.
Since the beginning of 2015 the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has documented 74 attacks on judicial authorities in Afghanistan by the Taliban. These attacks have resulted in death of 89 judges, prosecutors, and judicial staff members and 214 injuries.
The attacks in 2016 followed the execution of six convicted Taliban militants last May. Among those sentenced to death by the Afghan government was one of the top facilitators for al Qaeda in Afghanistan, Anas Haqqani.
The Taliban attempted to thwart the executions by releasing a hostage video to the American and Canadian governments of Canadian Joshua Boyle and his American wife Caitlan Coleman. They urged the American and Canadian governments to pressure the Afghan government to release the captured Taliban fighters.
President Ghani maintained his tough stance and continued with the executions despite the pressure from the Taliban.
Shortly after the executions, a suicide bomber targeted a bus carrying court employees killing 11 people in an act the Taliban called revenge. Just one month later, in June of 2016, Taliban gunmen killed seven people, including the newly appointed chief prosecutor, in a court building in the eastern Logar province.
Just last month the Taliban also claimed responsibility for the twin bombings of government workers outside parliament – this attack killed 30 and injured 70 others.
The UN reported 2016 the bloodiest year for Afghan civilians since the war began in 2001. The Afghan government stresses that is important that judicial members are considered civilians and thus these attacks are on civilians.
This rise in casualties is credited to the Taliban’s slow gaining of ground across the country. The Afghan government currently controls no more than two-thirds of the country and about half of that area is hotly contested. Until recently, the Islamic State (IS) was a relatively minor faction in Afghanistan.
Since establishing itself in early 2015, IS has been fighting the Taliban for land and influence. In June of 2016, both groups claimed responsibility for an attack on Kabul that left 14 dead. The presence of IS in Afghanistan and the Taliban’s opposition to IS present complications for the US in fighting IS in the war in Afghanistan.
