Several killed as large blast hits Shiite mosque in Afghanistan — the second such attack in a week

3 yıl önce

ISLAMABAD â A large blast has hit a Shiite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar with several people dead and injured.

The explosion hit Emam Bargha Ptima mosque as people were gathering for Friday prayers.

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The full extent of casualties was not immediately clear. Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said that several people were injured and killed, while a local doctor told the AFP news agency that at least seven people were dead.

Footage from inside the mosque showed several bloodies bodies on the ground, some covered in sheets, while onlookers wailed.

The attack comes a week after an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked a crowded mosque during Friday prayers in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan, killing nearly 50 Shiite Muslim worshipers and wounding dozens more.

The extremist Islamic State group views followers of the Shiite sect of Islam as heretics and often targets their places of worship.

Cheung reported from London.