ISKP attack against civilian minibus in Dasht-e Barchi highlights lack of security

Above images: aftermath of the attack shared by Afghan Voice Agency.

On 11 August 2024 various news agencies reported the explosion of a civilian vehicle in the Dasht-e Barchi area of Kabul. Numerous videos and photos shared on social media, showed the aftermath of the blast with a partially destroyed minibus on the road, and people trying to help the victims. 

AW investigators geolocated the incident to Shaheed Mazari Road, the main street cutting through the Dasht-e Barchi area of Kabul’s Police District (PD) 13, as seen below.

Tamadon News, a Shia media outlet, reported that Khalid Zadran, the Spokesperson for the Kabul Police, confirmed the explosion and claimed that the blast was the result of a magnetic mine planted on the vehicle. Zadran added that as a result of the attack, one person died and 11 others were injured.

ISKP claimed the attack with a statement that read: “By the grace of Allah Almighty, the soldiers of the Caliphate detonated a sticky bomb on a bus belonging to the apostate Shiites, in the Dasht-e Barchi area, west of the city of Kabul, which led to its damage, the death of a Shiite, and the injury of 13 others. All praise and gratitude be to Allah.”

The type of damage observed on the minibus corroborates both Zadran and ISKP’s claim that a mine was placed on the vehicle. The figure below shows how the front (top left) and the side of the minibus (bottom) were mostly left unscathed, whilst the back (top right), where the mine was likely placed, sustained the majority of damage.

Sayed Mahdi Hussaini, an Afghan journalist, shared a document on X (formerly Twitter) containing a list with detailed information about the victims. According to the document, there were 14 victims of the blast, four of whom were female between the ages of 24 and 35, and 10 were male between the ages of 13 and 70. The oldest victim was the only registered death. 

AW investigators were only able to visually verify one injured victim at the scene. However, Emergency NGO, an organisation providing medical aid in Afghanistan, confirmed their Kabul hospital received a total of nine victims, one of whom was in serious condition. AW also received a report by the Terrorism Victims Protection Organization (TVPO) confirming the number, age, and gender of all victims. The document stated there was one additional unidentified person killed in the blast, increasing the total number of victims to 15.

ISKP attacks targeting Hazara minibuses

Since Taliban takeover in August 2021, AW has recorded eight ISKP attacks targeting civilian minibuses within a five-kilometre stretch, as seen in the map below. Of these, six took place on Shaheed Mazari Road, within three kilometres of each other.

In addition to targeting civilian minibuses, ISKP has also claimed many other attacks in the same area, including one at an education centre, one at a sports club, and one in the parking lot of a Shopping Centre, making this Hazara-majority location in Kabul a highly targeted area for the group.

The incident on 11 August 2024 was the second attack of the group in the capital over a two-week period, in an ISKP return to attacks in Kabul after a four-month hiatus. During 2024, ISKP has claimed six attacks targeting Taliban members and Shia civilians: two took place in January, then after a three-month pause, the group returned to the capital with two attacks in April. After four months with no claimed activity in Kabul, ISKP conducted two attacks in August 2024. None of the victims were high value targets, with the attacks mostly focusing on civilians, infrastructure, and Taliban civil servants.

In February 2023, Abdul Nafi Takor, then-Taliban Spokesperson for the Ministry of Interior claimed that, in a meeting Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani told Shia representatives that Taliban security forces were “responsible for the security of all citizens of Afghanistan, including the Hazara brothers.” Despite these assurances from the Taliban, the area still appears to remain unsafe for the religious minority, as between January and August 2024, ISKP has already claimed three attacks against minibuses carrying Hazara civilians in the area.