GARDA SERAI, Afghanistan: Thousands of people attended the funeral Thursday of a Taliban minister killed in a Kabul suicide bombing claimed by the Daesh group.
The funeral for Khalil Haqqani, the minister for refugees and repatriation, was held in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktia province. The Cabinet member was the most high-profile casualty of an assault in the country since the Taliban seized power three years ago.
The minister died in a blast Wednesday at his ministry in the Afghan capital, along with five others.
He was the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the acting interior minister and the leader of a powerful faction within the Taliban. The US placed a bounty on both their heads.
Tight security was in place for the high-ranking officials attending the funeral, including Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Deputy Prime Minister Maulvi Abdul Kabir.
Armed men guarded the coffin, which was draped in the Taliban flag, and loudspeakers broadcast sermons and eulogies. Local and international media were invited to cover the funeral in Garda Serai district, Paktia.
In a statement carried by the Amaq News Agency, the Daesh Khorasan Province — an affiliate of the Daesh group — said that one of its fighters carried out the suicide bombing. The fighter waited for Haqqani to leave his office and then detonated his device, according to the statement.
An official from Paktia, the Haqqanis’ heartland, gave a different account of what happened. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The assailant was able to gain access to the ministry despite setting off an alarm on the body scanner because he told the guard he had metal plates in his hands, the official said. He also claimed he was a refugee.
The official added that Haqqani made time for refugees and people with disabilities who come to see him at work because he was sympathetic to their plight.
He was approaching the ministry after praying in the compound’s mosque when the assailant detonated the bomb, the official added.
The UN Mission in Afghanistan was among those to condemn the ministry attack. “There can be no place for terrorism in the quest for stability,” the mission said on X.
Neighboring Pakistan has also expressed its shock. Mohammad Sadiq, the special representative for Afghanistan, wrote on X on Wednesday that the government stood in solidarity with Afghanistan and reiterated its commitment to work with Afghanistan in fighting the “menace of terrorism.”
The Daesh group’s affiliate, a major rival of the ruling Taliban, has previously carried out bombings across Afghanistan.
But suicide attacks have become rare since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 and US and NATO forces withdrew. Such assaults have mostly targeted minority Shiite Muslims, especially in the capital.
Thousands attend funeral of Taliban minister killed by Islamic State suicide bombing
https://arab.news/j6j53
Thousands attend funeral of Taliban minister killed by Islamic State suicide bombing
- The funeral for Khalil Haqqani, the minister for refugees and repatriation, was held in eastern Afghanistan’s Paktia province
- The Cabinet member was the most high-profile casualty of an assault in the country since the Taliban seized power three years ago
Europeans push back at US over claim they face ‘civilizational erasure’
- “Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure,” Kallas told the conference
MUNICH: A top European Union official on Sunday rejected the notion that Europe faces “civilizational erasure,” pushing back at criticism of the continent by the Trump administration.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas addressed the Munich Security Conference a day after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio offered a somewhat reassuring message to European allies. He struck a less aggressive tone than Vice President JD Vance did in lecturing them at the same gathering last year but maintained a firm tone on Washington’s intent to reshape the trans-Atlantic alliance and push its policy priorities.
Kallas alluded to criticism in the US national security strategy released in December, which asserted that economic stagnation in Europe “is eclipsed by the real and more stark prospect of civilizational erasure.” It suggested that Europe is being enfeebled by its immigration policies, declining birth rates, “censorship of free speech and suppression of political opposition” and a “loss of national identities and self-confidence.”
“Contrary to what some may say, woke, decadent Europe is not facing civilizational erasure,” Kallas told the conference. “In fact, people still want to join our club and not just fellow Europeans,” she added, saying she was told when visiting Canada last year that many people there have an interest in joining the EU.
Kallas rejected what she called “European-bashing.”
“We are, you know, pushing humanity forward, trying to defend human rights and all this, which is actually bringing also prosperity for people. So that’s why it’s very hard for me to believe these accusations.”
In his conference speech, Rubio said that an end to the trans-Atlantic era “is neither our goal nor our wish,” adding that “our home may be in the Western hemisphere, but we will always be a child of Europe.”
He made clear that the Trump administration is sticking to its guns on issues such as migration, trade and climate. And European officials who addressed the gathering made clear that they in turn will stand by their values, including their approach to free speech, climate change and free trade.
British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Saturday that Europe must defend “the vibrant, free and diverse societies that we represent, showing that people who look different to each other can live peacefully together, that this isn’t against the tenor of our times.”
“Rather, it is what makes us strong,” he said.
Kallas said Rubio’s speech sent an important message that America and Europe are and will remain intertwined.
“It is also clear that we don’t see eye to eye on all the issues and this will remain the case as well, but I think we can work from there,” she said.
