Multiple explosions have been heard along with gunfire at a Sikh temple in the Afghanistan capital Kabul, with many feared dead in what is being reported as a possible terror attack by ISIS.
Four consecutive blasts have been reported coming from the Gurdwara Karte Parwan, a Sikh place of worship, in Kabul, and shooting is ongoing on Saturday morning.
Armed attackers are believed to have entered the building and a siege is taking place, reported tribuneindia.com.
There are reports that there could be up to 30 hostages being held on the second floor of the temple.
Eye witness accounts have claimed that there are many dead and people are being taken to hospital.
"There were around 30 people inside the temple. We don't know how many of them are alive or how many dead. The Taliban are not allowing us to go inside, we don't know what to do," an official, Gornam Singh, told Reuters.
The front door of the building is on fire and Taliban forces are preparing to attack the gunman inside who are thought to be from ISIS, an eye witness told tribuneindia.com.
Manjinder Singh Sirsa, of India's BJP political party, reportedly spoke to the Gurdwara Karte Parwan President Gurnam Singh, who confirmed that the attack started at 6am local time when the first prayers of the day were underway.
Mr Singh Sirsa posted a video on Twitter showing large plumes of black smoke and the sounds of gunfire.
He
: "Video of terrorist attack on Karte Parwan Gurdwara Sahib in Kabul at 6am today. At present the Gurudwara is in the possession of terrorists. This is the main gurdwara of minority Sikhs in Afghanistan."
In a follow up tweet he said: Sikh Sangat (approx 10-15 in number) stuck in Gurdwara Karte Parwan in Kabul which was attacked by terrorists today morning. One person has been reported dead in this attack."
An Afghan Interior Ministry official has reportedly said that a Sikh hospital has also been targeted.
And the Interior Ministry has stated that insurgents also tried to detonate a car packed with explosives in a crowd of people but were not successful, reported Bakhtar News Agency.
Afghanistan's Taliban rulers say they have secured the country since taking power in August, but international officials and analysts say the risk of a resurgence in militancy remains.
Multiple attacks have taken place in recent months, with some claimed by the Islamic State militant group.
Sikhs are a tiny religious minority in largely Muslim Afghanistan, comprising around 300 family members before the fall of the country to the Taliban.
Many had left the country in the wake of the takeover, according to community members and media reports.
The Sikh community, like other religious minorities, has been the continual target of violence in Afghanistan. An attack claimed by the Islamic State at another temple in Kabul in 2020 killed 25.
Saturday's explosion follows a blast on Friday in the northern city of Kunduz at a mosque that killed one and injured two, according to authorities.
