Relatives of the victims of the attack. photo by Reuters.
At least 21 people were killed and 33 injured in a bomb attack on a crowded mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, according to a new toll released by police on Thursday.
“Yesterday (Wednesday) there was an explosion in a mosque … during the evening prayer. As a result, 21 of our citizens were martyred and 33 were injured,” the police spokesman said in a statement. by Kabul Khalid Zadran.
“The explosion was caused by explosives placed inside the mosque,” the spokesman told AFP. No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.
“He was my cousin … It had been a year since his marriage, he was 27 and his name was Fardin … he was a good person,” said a man who identified himself as Masiullah, recounting the death of a relative in explosion.
A group of Afghans prays after the attack that killed 21 people. AFP photo.
At least 21 people were killed in the blast in a Kabul mosque. AFP photo.
The Italian NGO Emergency, which runs a hospital in Kabul, said it had welcomed a total of 35 victims in the explosion, three of whom died.
“Most of the patients we received after the explosion in the mosque suffer from shrapnel injuries and burns. We operated all night. Among the people we received were nine children,” the national director said in a statement. of the NGO, Stefano Sozza.
The UN mission in Afghanistan complained on Twitter that “security is deteriorating” in the country and complained that there has been “a disturbing series of bomb attacks that have killed and injured more than 250 people in recent weeks. higher monthly number of civilian victims in a year “.
The mosque targeted by the attacks is located in the northwestern Sunni district of Kabul and also has a Koranic school.
The suicide attack also caused 33 injuries and no one claimed responsibility, despite all pointing against the Islamic State (IS)
The building was surrounded on Thursday by armed Taliban, also present in the surrounding streets, who control access, AFP reporters noted.
A week ago, a suicide bomber detonated a bomb inside a madrasa in Kabul, killing an elderly Taliban cleric, Rahimullah Haqqani, and his brother.
The cleric was best known for his fiery speeches against the Islamic State (IS) jihadist group, which claimed responsibility for the attack.
More attacks in the midst of the Taliban regime
A young man injured after the attack speaks to the media in Kabul.
Although the Taliban seizure of power a year ago reduced violence in Afghanistan, the country regularly comes under attack.
Several deadly attacks and a series of attacks took place in August, mainly in late April, during the holy month of Ramadan, and in late May, killing dozens of people.
Most of the attacks are claimed by IS, usually directed against minorities such as Shiites, Sufis or Sikhs, but also against the Taliban.
The supreme leader of the Taliban, Hibatullah Akhundzada, who does not usually appear in public, condemned the attacks on Thursday, during a speech before about 2,000 religious leaders in Kandahar (south), the cradle and decision-making center of the Islamist movement.
The meeting was organized on the occasion of the first anniversary of his return to power in Afghanistan, a year marked by a strong setback for women’s rights and a profound humanitarian and economic crisis.
According to a statement by the group, Akhundzada said the Taliban are “prepared to fight once again” against the United States for the right to apply their strict interpretation of Sharia (Islamic law).
He also stressed the need for unity, in a context of tensions among the Taliban over the need to obtain international recognition. Neither country has established formal relations with the Taliban government, which came to power in August 2021.
The reopening of secondary schools for girls, which have been closed since March, also generates differences.
Photo: AFP
Source: Clarin