A small explosion has disrupted the funeral services for 25 members of Afghanistan's Sikh community who were killed earlier this week in an attack by an Islamic State gunman on their religious compound.

No one was hurt when the explosive device detonated near the crematorium where the ceremonies were taking place, the Interior Ministry said on March 26.

On March 25, a lone gunman stormed the temple in central Kabul before security forces killed him and released the 80 hostages he had taken.

The Islamic State (IS) militant group has claimed responsibility for the attack via the online Amaq news agency, which it uses to distribute statements.

Sikhs, a small religious minority in Afghanistan which numbers fewer than 300 families, have been targeted by Islamist militants before.

A suicide bombing targeting the Sikh community and claimed by IS killed more than a dozen people in 2018 in the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad.

Based on reporting by AP and Pajhwok Afghan News

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