Khalil Rahman Haqqani, the Taliban's acting minister for refugees, and six others were killed in an explosion in Kabul on Wednesday, multiple reports said. The explosion took place at the Ministry of Refugees in Kabul, a government source told AFP. 


A Taliban spokesperson said that Haqqani was killed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group. However, the Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the attack so far. 


Khalil Haqqani, who is a senior leader of the prominent Haqqani militant network, became a minister in the Taliban's interim government after the withdrawal of the US from Afghanistan in August 2021. 


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He was a senior leader of the Haqqani network, a Sunni Islamist militant organization founded by Jalaluddin Haqqani, who emerged as a top Afghan warlord and insurgent commander during the anti-Soviet war, according to the US government. The Haqqani Network is primarily based in North Waziristan, Pakistan, and conducts cross-border operations into eastern Afghanistan and Kabul.


The US government has classified Khalil Haqqani, who Taliban members said was in his 50s, as a "global terrorist" in 2011 and offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest. Haqqani was also the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current interior minister and the younger brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, the founder of the Haqqani network.


"We lost a very brave Mujahid. We will never forget him and his sacrifice," his nephew Anas Haqqani told Reuters. 


The blast took place as Khalil Haqqani was leaving a mosque after afternoon prayers. 


Meanwhile, Pakistan Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar in a statement said he was "shocked" by the attack. "Pakistan unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations," he said.


After the Taliban took over power in Afghanistan, the attacks have continued in parts of the country. In 2022, a blast took place near the interior ministry, led by Haqqani network leader Sirajuddin Haqqani, killing four people. 


In 2023, Islamic State claimed an attack outside the Taliban-run foreign ministry that killed at least five.