United Nations, October 10

The United Nations Security Council strongly condemned ISIS’s “atrocious” terrorist attack on a mosque in Afghanistan and other recent attacks on religious institutions in the war-torn country, references on which India emphatically insisted in a statement released by the powerful United Nations body and rejected. any attempt to dilute them.

The 15-nation Security Council issued a press release on Saturday in which members “condemned in the strongest terms the atrocious and cowardly terrorist attack in Kunduz, Afghanistan” on October 8.

“The attack, claimed by the Islamic State of Khorasan Province (ISKP), an entity affiliated with the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL / Daesh), left more than 150 dead and injured. The attack, which took place at the Gozar-e-Sayed Abad Mosque, follows other recent attacks on religious institutions in Afghanistan, ”the press release said.

An Islamic State suicide bomber struck inside the Shia mosque.

Sources said India remained firm on two aspects which were ultimately noted in the press release.

The statement clearly reflects the sectarian nature of the terrorist attack which is observed not only in Afghanistan, but also in Pakistan where Shiite institutions are victims of terrorist attacks. The second aspect which India has strongly defended and which is mentioned in the press release concerns the attacks on other minority religious institutions.

There have been attempts to have these references removed, changed, or watered down, but this was rejected by India, which firmly asserted that the sectarian nature of the violence as well as the other minority religious institutions targeted should be recognized in statement, sources said, adding that India’s position was accepted and the statement was subsequently released.

Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul was reportedly vandalized earlier this month. – PTI