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| Blown Up by ISIS While Feeding the Poor in Afghanistan | Blown Up by ISIS While Feeding the Poor in Afghanistan |
| (about 13 hours later) | |
| Those two lines of verse, posted on the Facebook page of Ramazan Hussainzada last month, proved sadly prophetic. Mr. Hussainzada, a prominent Kabul businessman and philanthropist, was among four people killed by a suicide bomber who blew himself up at Al Zahra mosque in the Afghan capital on Thursday night. | Those two lines of verse, posted on the Facebook page of Ramazan Hussainzada last month, proved sadly prophetic. Mr. Hussainzada, a prominent Kabul businessman and philanthropist, was among four people killed by a suicide bomber who blew himself up at Al Zahra mosque in the Afghan capital on Thursday night. |
| The attack was the latest outrage attributed to Afghanistan’s small but growing wing of the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility in a message on Telegram, a WhatsApp-like service, noting pointedly that the mosque was a Shiite one. | The attack was the latest outrage attributed to Afghanistan’s small but growing wing of the Islamic State, which claimed responsibility in a message on Telegram, a WhatsApp-like service, noting pointedly that the mosque was a Shiite one. |
| While Afghanistan’s many ethnic factions have long warred among themselves, in recent years they have taken pains to play down differences between the majority Sunnis and minority Shiites, who are mostly members of the Hazara ethnic group. | While Afghanistan’s many ethnic factions have long warred among themselves, in recent years they have taken pains to play down differences between the majority Sunnis and minority Shiites, who are mostly members of the Hazara ethnic group. |
| A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, immediately repudiated the attack on the mosque. | A spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, immediately repudiated the attack on the mosque. |
| “We are not attacking mosques and our Shiite brothers,” Mr. Mujahid said, reached over the social messaging service Viber. | “We are not attacking mosques and our Shiite brothers,” Mr. Mujahid said, reached over the social messaging service Viber. |
| Mr. Hussainzada, a Hazara community leader who owned a shopping center, a private hospital and construction companies, built the mosque where he was killed. During the fasting month of Ramadan he had been active at the mosque preparing meals for the poor; that activity may have cost him his life. | Mr. Hussainzada, a Hazara community leader who owned a shopping center, a private hospital and construction companies, built the mosque where he was killed. During the fasting month of Ramadan he had been active at the mosque preparing meals for the poor; that activity may have cost him his life. |
| According to Afghan police officials, two attackers, wearing explosive vests and carrying handguns, tried to force their way into the mosque’s main entrance, but encountered strong resistance from the police guarding it. One attacker was shot and killed, but the second went around to the kitchen area of the mosque, where he detonated his explosives, killing Mr. Hussainzada and three others. | According to Afghan police officials, two attackers, wearing explosive vests and carrying handguns, tried to force their way into the mosque’s main entrance, but encountered strong resistance from the police guarding it. One attacker was shot and killed, but the second went around to the kitchen area of the mosque, where he detonated his explosives, killing Mr. Hussainzada and three others. |
| One of the dead and four of the eight wounded were Afghan police officers, said Najib Danish, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. | One of the dead and four of the eight wounded were Afghan police officers, said Najib Danish, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry. |
| A member of Mr. Hussainzada’s family, Ali Sadaat, who was at the mosque during the attack, said his relative “was a good businessman, a great man and an important figure among the Hazaras.” Mr. Sadaat said Mr. Hussainzada had been known for helping street vendors and day laborers, and for giving money to parents to send their children to school rather than putting them to work. | A member of Mr. Hussainzada’s family, Ali Sadaat, who was at the mosque during the attack, said his relative “was a good businessman, a great man and an important figure among the Hazaras.” Mr. Sadaat said Mr. Hussainzada had been known for helping street vendors and day laborers, and for giving money to parents to send their children to school rather than putting them to work. |
| The Islamic State in Khorasan, as the group’s Afghan branch is often known, is most active in southern parts of Nangarhar Province, along the border with Pakistan, but in recent months there has been an increase in attacks attributed to the group in Kabul. Several militants from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, rampaged through a military hospital in the capital in March, killing patients in their beds. | The Islamic State in Khorasan, as the group’s Afghan branch is often known, is most active in southern parts of Nangarhar Province, along the border with Pakistan, but in recent months there has been an increase in attacks attributed to the group in Kabul. Several militants from the Islamic State, also known as ISIS or ISIL, rampaged through a military hospital in the capital in March, killing patients in their beds. |
| On Wednesday, Islamic State militants wrested control of Tora Bora, the mountain redoubt that was once Osama bin Laden’s fortress, from the Taliban. | On Wednesday, Islamic State militants wrested control of Tora Bora, the mountain redoubt that was once Osama bin Laden’s fortress, from the Taliban. |
| No faction has claimed responsibility for the truck bombing at an entrance to the Green Zone in Kabul on May 31, which killed more than 150 people. The Taliban have denied any role in that assault, or in an attack days later at a funeral that killed at least a dozen others. Those attacks have set off weeks of demonstrations against the government. | |
| The protesters have accused senior officials of conspiring with terrorists, and some of Mr. Hussainzada’s supporters expressed that view as well. | |
| “ISIS claimed responsibility, but we are not sure,” Mr. Sadaat said. “It may be Taliban terrorists, it may be a fifth column in the government. There are too many questions unanswered, like how did these terrorists know about last night’s program?” | “ISIS claimed responsibility, but we are not sure,” Mr. Sadaat said. “It may be Taliban terrorists, it may be a fifth column in the government. There are too many questions unanswered, like how did these terrorists know about last night’s program?” |
| Ahmad Ramazanzada, Mr. Hussainzada’s son, said it was clear to him that his father had been assassinated. Mr. Ramazanzada was reached by telephone at his home, where family members were waiting for all of Mr. Hussainzada’s sons to return from abroad before burying him. | Ahmad Ramazanzada, Mr. Hussainzada’s son, said it was clear to him that his father had been assassinated. Mr. Ramazanzada was reached by telephone at his home, where family members were waiting for all of Mr. Hussainzada’s sons to return from abroad before burying him. |
| “My father was the target,” Mr. Ramazanzada said. “When the suiciders attacked the mosque, there weren’t many people there, and the attacker knew all the alternative routes of the mosque, and he knew where my father was standing.” | “My father was the target,” Mr. Ramazanzada said. “When the suiciders attacked the mosque, there weren’t many people there, and the attacker knew all the alternative routes of the mosque, and he knew where my father was standing.” |
| In Afghanistan, he said, “when too many people love you, and you are getting your place in the heart of everyone, then you are a target for some people.” | In Afghanistan, he said, “when too many people love you, and you are getting your place in the heart of everyone, then you are a target for some people.” |