Blast kills more than 50 at Kabul mosque, its leader says

The blast hit the Khalifa Sahib Mosque within the west of the capital within the early afternoon, mentioned Besmullah Habib, deputy spokesman for the inside ministry, who mentioned the official confirmed dying toll was 10.

The assault got here as worshippers on the Sunni mosque gathered after Friday prayers for a congregation generally known as Zikr – an act of non secular remembrance practised by some Muslims however seen as heretical by some hardline Sunni teams.

Sayed Fazil Agha, the top of the mosque, mentioned somebody they believed was a suicide bomber joined them within the ceremony and detonated explosives.

“Black smoke rose and unfold all over the place, useless our bodies have been all over the place,” he advised Reuters, including that his nephews have been among the many useless. “I personally survived, however misplaced my beloved ones.”

Resident Mohammad Sabir mentioned he had seen wounded folks being loaded into ambulances.

“The blast was very loud, I assumed my eardrums have been cracked,” he mentioned.

A well being supply mentioned hospitals had obtained 66 useless our bodies and 78 wounded folks to this point.

America and the United Nations’ mission to Afghanistan condemned the assault, with the latter saying it was a part of an uptick in violence in latest weeks focusing on minorities and including that no less than two U.N. employees members and their households have been within the mosque on the time of the assault.

“No phrases are robust sufficient to sentence this despicable act,” mentioned Mette Knudsen, the U.N. secretary basic’s deputy particular consultant for Afghanistan.

Emergency Hospital in downtown Kabul mentioned it was treating 21 sufferers and two have been useless on arrival. A employee at one other hospital treating assault sufferers mentioned it had obtained 49 sufferers and round 5 our bodies. Ten of the sufferers have been in crucial situation, the supply added, and virtually 20 had been admitted to the burns unit.

A spokesman for the ruling Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, launched an announcement condemning the blast and saying the perpetrators can be discovered and punished.

It was not instantly clear who was accountable.

Scores of Afghan civilians have been killed in latest weeks in blasts, a few of which have been claimed by Islamic State.

Emergency Hospital mentioned it had handled greater than 100 sufferers wounded in assaults in Kabul in April alone. The most recent assault got here on the final Friday within the month of Ramadan by which most Muslims quick, and earlier than the spiritual vacation of Eid subsequent week.

The Taliban say they’ve secured the nation since taking energy in August and largely eradicated Islamic State’s native offshoot, however worldwide officers and analysts say the danger of a resurgence in militancy stays.

Most of the assaults have focused the Shi’ite minority, nonetheless Sunni mosques have additionally been attacked.

Bombs exploded aboard two passenger vans carrying Shi’ite Muslims within the northern metropolis of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday, killing no less than 9 folks. Final Friday, a blast tore by means of a Sunni mosque throughout Friday prayers within the metropolis of Kunduz, killing 33.