Bring Afghan Sikhs to India: welfare body urges govt after gurdwara attack

A welfare society for Afghan Sikhs urged the Central government on Thursday to bring to India those injured in the gurdwara attack in Kabul and also facilitate the homecoming of the Sikhs living there as they were undergoing trauma.

At least 25 worshippers were killed and eight others injured when a heavily armed suicide bomber on Wednesday stormed his way into a prominent gurdwara in the heart of Afghanistan's capital, in one of the deadliest attacks on the minority Sikh community in the strife-torn country.

Khajinder Khurana, president of the Afghan Hindu-Sikh Welfare Society, said the attack was against humanity.

"It is very tragic. Nothing could have more cruel than this. We urge the government to bring back those who were injured. Those willing to return home should be helped and the government should ensure that those staying there be provided security," he told PTI here.

The government earlier said it was facilitating bringing back the bodies of those killed in the attack.

Khurana said Sikhs in Kabul were in a state of trauma and want to come to India.

The Islamic State (IS) terror group, which has targeted Sikhs before in Afghanistan, claimed responsibility for the attack in Kabul's Shor Bazar area.