Afghanistan: Blast at mosque during Friday prayers, 33 killed, 43 injured

A Taliban spokesman says a bomb blast near a mosque in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz has killed at least 33 people and injured 43 o...

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A Taliban spokesman says a bomb blast near a mosque in the northern Afghan province of Kunduz has killed at least 33 people and injured 43 others.

 

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter: "We condemn this crime. Photo: AFP

According to the foreign news agency 'AFP', there were two explosions in Afghanistan the previous day for which the Islamic State group (ISIS) claimed responsibility.

The number of bombings in the country has dropped since Taliban fighters took control of Afghanistan last year after overthrowing a US-backed government, but jihadist groups and Sunni Islamic State militants have attacked the targets. Have continued which they consider to be against their religious beliefs.

 

Read also: Afghanistan: Blasts in Mazar-e-Sharif and Kunduz, 14 killed

A Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said in a Twitter message that a blast at a mosque in the northern province of Kunduz had killed 33 people, including children.

A Taliban spokesman said: "We condemn this crime and express our deepest sympathies to the bereaved."

Unverified photos posted on social media show holes in the walls of the Maulvi Sikandar Mosque, famous for its Sufis north of Kunduz city.

Also read: Afghan capital school blast kills 6

Muhammad Isaah, owner of a shop near the mosque, said that the view of the mosque was frightening. All the worshipers inside the mosque were either injured or killed.

A nurse at a nearby district hospital told AFP by phone that between 30 and 40 people had been injured in the blast.

It should be noted that 14 people were killed in separate bomb blasts in two cities of Afghanistan Mazar-e-Sharif and Kunduz yesterday.

Read also: Afghanistan: Nine children killed in Nangarhar blast

According to the foreign news agency 'Reuters', 10 people were killed in the blasts in a mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif.

Zabihullah Noorani, head of the information and culture department in the Afghan province of Balkh, told AEFP that 25 people had been killed.

A police official said the blasts killed 10 people and injured 15 others.

In addition, an explosion in Kunduz city killed at least 4 people and injured 18.

Earlier on Friday, Taliban officials said they had arrested the "mastermind" responsible for the bombing of a mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif.

 

Read also: Afghanistan: Two killed, several injured in blast in Dasht-e-Barchi

No group has so far claimed responsibility for the twin blasts at a boys' school in a Shiite neighborhood of Kabul three days ago, which killed six people and injured more than 25 others.

Afghanistan Shia Hazara community, which accounts for between 10 and 20 percent of the country 38 million population, has long been the target of attacks, with some blaming the Taliban and others for the attacks. It is imposed on ISIS.

Taliban officials insist their security forces have defeated IS, but analysts say the militant group remains a major challenge to the country security.

Read also: Afghanistan: Explosion at Nangarhar mosque, 3 killed

The terrorist group has claimed some of the deadliest attacks in Afghanistan in recent years.

In May last year, three bomb blasts near a school in Kabul's Shiite-majority Dasht-e-Barchi district killed at least 85 people, most of them female students, and injured about 300 others.

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but in October 2020, IS claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing at an educational center in the same area that killed 24 people, including students.

The group was accused of attacking a maternity ward at a local hospital in May 2020, killing 25 people, including female patients. 

 

Pakistan expresses concern over terrorist attacks in Afghanistan

Pakistan has expressed deep concern over the recent terrorist attacks in various parts of Afghanistan over the past few days.

According to a statement issued by the Pakistan Foreign Office Spokesperson, Pakistan strongly condemns all forms of terrorism.

The Foreign Office says recent terrorist incidents highlight the importance of working with the Afghan interim government to end the scourge of terrorism and achieve lasting peace and stability in Afghanistan.

The statement said that the government and people of Pakistan express deep sympathy and condolences to the families of those killed in these terrorist attacks and pray for speedy recovery of the injured.

The Foreign Office says that the Pakistani people express their full solidarity with their Afghan brothers in this hour of sorrow.