The December 2017 Kabul suicide bombing occurred on 28 December 2017, when militants attacked a

Shiite Shīʿa Islam or Shīʿīsm is the second-largest branch of Islam. It holds that the Islamic prophet Muhammad designated ʿAlī ibn Abī Ṭālib as his successor (''khalīfa'') and the Imam (spiritual and political leader) after him, most ...

cultural centre in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acco ...

, Afghanistan. The attack killed 50 people and injured over 80. The major explosion of the attack occurred in the Tebyan Cultural centre (also spelled "Tabayan Cultural Centre" and "Tabian Cultural Centre"), a Shia cultural organisation, located in the Shia-dominated

Dashte Barchi Dashte Barchi ( prs, دشت برچی) is a settlement located in western Kabul, Afghanistan. Previously barren and agricultural, Dashte Barchi became populated in the early 2000s by newcomers from the provinces, mostly ethnic Hazaras from Maidan ...

area of Kabul. The cultural centre also housed the Afghan Voice Agency, with victims including journalists and university students. The bombing occurred during a discussion held to mark the 38th anniversary of the

Soviet invasion of Afghanistan The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen national ...

. The interior ministry of Afghanistan stated that two other explosions occurred soon afterwards, but did not cause any fatalities. Among those killed were two children. Most of those injured were suffering from burns. Photographs taken by eyewitnesses showed significant damage to the targeted building. The so-called

Islamic State of Iraq and Levant An Islamic state is a state that has a form of government based on Islamic law (sharia). As a term, it has been used to describe various historical polities and theories of governance in the Islamic world. As a translation of the Arabic term ' ...

(ISIL) claimed responsibility for the attack in an online statement released by the

Amaq News Agency Amaq News Agency ( ar, وكالة أعماق الإخبارية) is a news outlet linked to the Islamic State (IS). Amaq publishes news reports about claims of responsibility for terrorist attacks in Western countries. It is often the "first poi ...

, operated by ISIL. The attack is among a series that has targeted Afghanistan's Shia minority, who are seen as heretics by the Islamic State. According to the United Nations, 12 attacks have targeted Shiites in Afghanistan since the beginning of 2016, in which more than 700 people have been killed. The

Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...

denied responsibility for the attack soon after it occurred. Afghan President

Ashraf Ghani Mohammad Ashraf Ghani Ahmadzai (born 19 May 1949) is an Afghan politician, academic, and economist who served as the president of Afghanistan from September 2014 until August 2021, when his government was overthrown by the Taliban. Born in L ...

described the incident as an "unpardonable"

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are widespread or systemic acts committed by or on behalf of a ''de facto'' authority, usually a state, that grossly violate human rights. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity do not have to take place within the c ...

References

2017 murders in Afghanistan 2017 in Kabul December 2017 crimes in Asia ISIL terrorist incidents in Afghanistan Islamic terrorist incidents in 2017 Mass murder in 2017 Mass murder in Kabul Mass murder in Afghanistan Suicide bombings in 2017 Suicide bombings in Afghanistan Terrorist incidents in Afghanistan in 2017 Terrorist incidents in Kabul Violence against Shia Muslims in Afghanistan Building bombings in Afghanistan {{massacre-stub