2024 Guzara Attack

2024 Guzara Attack
Part of the Afghan conflict and terrorism in Afghanistan
Location	Imam Zaman Mosque, Guzara, Herat Province, Afghanistan
Date	April 29, 2024 (2024-04-29) 21:00
Target	Shia Muslims
Attack type	Mass shooting
Weapon	AK-47
Deaths	6
Injured	1
Perpetrator	Islamic State – Khorasan Province
Motive	Anti-Shi'ism

The 2024 Guzara Attack was a terrorist attack against Shia Muslims in Guzara, Herat Province, Afghanistan on April 29, 2024, by the Islamic State – Khorasan Province.

Background

The Islamic State as a whole has made its ideology of Islamic Statism to Sunni supremacy and Takfirism against Shia Muslims with attacks like the Camp Speicher massacre, unlike the group it split from, Al-Qaeda, which attempts to maintain positive Shia–Sunni relations.

Attack

On the night of April 29, 2024 at 9 PM, an attacker stormed into the Iman Zaman mosque as he opened fired on worshippers in the mosque. The attacker sprayed bullets randomly at worshippers, killing six, including a 3-year-old child and the Imam who was leading the prayers, and injuring one, the attacker used an AK-47 to shoot at the worshippers before he fled the scene afterwards.

Aftermath

Though no one immediately took responsibility for the attack, a day later the Islamic State – Khorasan Province claimed responsibility through their telegram channel. Many organizations and people condemning the attack including the former president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, said on a post on X: "I strongly condemn the attack on the Imam Zaman Mosque, I consider this terrorist act against all religious and human standards.", the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the Iranian embassy in Kabul, and the Taliban with them denouncing and accusing the Islamic State even before they claimed responsibility for the attack.