Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid deplored “a cowardly attack” carried out by the Islamic State (IS) group, saluting a “great fighter” who “fell as a martyr”.

The explosion, which was the first attack targeting a minister since the Taliban returned to power in 2021, “happened at the Ministry for Refugees and minister Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani has been martyred along with some of his colleagues,” a government source told AFP, requesting anonymity. He added that the explosion was caused by a suicide blast.

The roads leading to the ministry were blocked by Taliban authorities, with security personnel posted on surrounding rooftops.

The ministry’s corridors are full daily of numerous displaced people coming to request assistance or to follow up on resettlement cases in a country that still has more than three million war-displaced.

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani – who never appeared without an automatic weapon in his hand – was the brother of Jalaluddin Haqqani, founder of the feared Haqqani network responsible for some of the most violent attacks during the Taliban’s two-decade insurgency. He was also the uncle of Sirajuddin Haqqani, the current interior minister.

The Haqqanis are said to be engaged in a struggle for influence within the Taliban authorities. According to press reports, they are pitted as a pragmatic faction up against supporters of the severe interpretation of Islamic law in line with the Taliban’s supreme leader based in Kandahar.

Khalil Ur-Rahman Haqqani, who was 58, had been on US and UN sanctions lists, with Washington offering $5 million for information on him.

Several senior Taliban leaders have been killed since their return to power, including provincial governors, commanders and religious clerics, mostly in attacks claimed by IS. Violence has waned in Afghanistan since the Taliban forces took over the country in 2021, ending their war against US-led NATO coalition forces.

However, the regional chapter of IS, known as Islamic State Khorasan, is active in Afghanistan and has regularly targeted civilians, foreigners and Taliban officials with gun and bomb attacks.

The Taliban authorities frequently announce the arrest or killing of jihadist group members – even as they continue to claim that the IS threat has been eradicated in the country.