Warning Against ‘Divisive Schemes’ in Afghanistan

Iranian Foreign Ministry warned against plots to tear Afghanistan apart as the self-styled Islamic State terror group claimed yet another attack against the country’s Shia Muslim community using attackers from different ethnic groups.
IS Khorasan affiliate, known as ISIS-K, claimed responsibility on Friday for a suicide bombing that killed more than 50 worshippers at a Shia Muslim mosque in the city of Kandahar. 
The operation came a week after the militants targeted another gathering of Shia Muslims, most of whom hail from Afghanistan’s Hazara community, in the city of Kunduz, killing up to 100 people and injuring scores more. 
A week earlier, a Sunni Muslim mosque was attacked in the capital Kabul and, as Afghanistan’s now ruling Taliban attempts to rein in the chaos, neighboring Iran, the world’s top Shia Muslim power, has issued a message blaming takfiris, those who consider other forms of Islam apostates and will not tolerate their very existence.
“Once again the enemies of Islam pulled the strings of the criminal takfiri terrorists and spilled the blood of a number of the oppressed people of Afghanistan during Friday prayers,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry said in a statement sent to Newsweek.
The ministry said it “strongly condemns the terrorist attack by the takfiris at the Fatemieh Mosque in Kandahar which martyred and wounded a large number of worshippers.” The ministry also “offers condolences to the honorable families of the martyrs and the dear people of Afghanistan and it prays for patience and divine reward for the bereaved families and fast recovery for those injured in this inhumane crime.”

Need for Unity 

And Tehran expressed a warning as well, invoking the Ummah, or the global family of Muslims.
“The Foreign Ministry also warns of plots by the Islamic Ummah’s enemies to cause divisions and stresses the need for unity and solidarity among Shias and Sunnis and for rejection of violence and extremism in the name of Islam,” the ministry said.
Iranian officials also called for fortifying the defenses of holy sites in the wake of the turmoil, which they believe Afghans would ultimately overcome.
“This heart-wrenching incident and the past tragic events including the terrorist attack in Kunduz highlight more than ever before the need for beefing up security and boosting protection of Shia and Sunni worshiping places and other gatherings in Afghanistan,” the Iranian Foreign Ministry added. “The Islamic Republic of Iran is confident that our Muslim brothers and sisters in Afghanistan will foil the divisive schemes of their enemies through solidarity, co-thinking and joint efforts.”
The governments of Afghanistan, Iran and Pakistan have all struggled for ages with various insurgent groups, many of which have mobilized across sectarian lines.