PV International Desk : An explosion hit the centre of the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad on Sunday, killing at least 20 people, including several members of the small Sikh minority, provincial government officials said.
A politician representing the minority Sikh community was killed in the blast. Officials said Awtar Singh Khalsa, who had planned to stand in October’s parliamentary elections, was dead. Ghulam Sanayi Stanekzai, police chief of Nangarhar, said the explosion was caused by a suicide bomber who targeted a vehicle carrying members of the Sikh minority who were travelling to meet the president.
Islamic State claimed the attack in a statement via its online Amaq news agency, but provided no evidence for the claim.
Officials said at least 10 of the dead were Sikhs.
Afghanistan is an overwhelmingly Muslim nation but a small number of Hindus and Sikhs remain in the country.
One seat in the Afghan parliament is reserved for a member of the country’s small Sikh and Hindu communities.
