Taliban: ISIS-K cell destroyed after mosque bombing

The Taliban say they have destroyed an ISIS-K cell responsible for a deadly bombing at a mosque in Afghanistan’s capital over the weekend. 

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said in a statement that the group carried out a counterattack on the cell late Sunday, according to Reuters. 

“The ISIS base was entirely destroyed and all of the ISIS members inside were killed as a result of this decisive and successful attack,” he said. 

The bombing earlier on Sunday occurred during a memorial service for Mujahid’s mother and reportedly killed at least two people and injured several others outside the Eid Gah Mosque in Kabul.

It was the first major attack in Afghanistan’s capital city since a suicide bombing killed U.S. 13 service members and dozens of Afghans outside the city’s airport as U.S. forces evacuated personnel and allies from the country in late August.

ISIS-K, ISIS’s affiliate in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for Sunday’s bombing, during which no Taliban fighters were killed, the group told The Washington Post. 

Following the withdrawal of U.S. troops from the nation, the Taliban has taken complete control of Afghanistan.