At least 18 people were killed in a bomb attack on one of the largest mosques in western Afghanistan on Friday, including an influential imam who has called for the beheading of those who commit “the smallest action” against the Taliban government.
Images posted on Twitter show bloody bodies strewn across the Gazargah mosque in the city of Herat.
Violence has subsided since the Taliban took power last year, but many attacks, mostly against minority communities, have rocked the country in recent months, many of which have been claimed by the Islamic State (IS) extremist group.
At least 18 people were killed and 23 injured in Friday’s explosion, Herat Governor’s Spokesman Hameedullah Motawakel said.
Afghan government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that the mosque’s imam, Mujib ur Rahman Ansari, was among the dead.
“A strong and brave religious scholar from this country was martyred in a brutal attack,” he tweeted.
Ansari was an influential clergyman known for his enthusiastic speeches. He defended Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers at a religious meeting in Kabul in July.
At the time, he said, “Anyone who commits the smallest action against our Islamic government must be beheaded.”
“This flag [do Talibã] It was not easily removed and will not be easily taken down,” he said.
Even before the Taliban returned to power in August last year, Ansari was known for his tirades against previous US-backed governments.
– ISIS is a challenge for the Taliban –
This is the second pro-Taliban cleric killed in an explosion less than a month after Rahimullah Haqqani was killed in a suicide attack on his madrasa in Kabul.
Hakkani was known for his violent speeches against ISIS, which later claimed responsibility for his death.
He also spoke out in favor of allowing girls to attend high school, despite the Taliban government banning them from attending classes in most provinces.
Several mosques across the country have been the target of attacks so far this year, some claimed by ISIS.
At least 21 people were killed and dozens were injured in an explosion at a mosque full of worshipers in Kabul on 17 August.
ISIS primarily targets minority communities such as Shiites, Sufis and Sikhs.
Although the extremist group is a Sunni Islamist group like the Taliban, both are rivals and differ greatly in ideology.
The government has said ISIS has been defeated, but experts say the group is the main security concern for the country’s new Islamic fundamentalist leaders.
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© Agence France-Press
source: Noticias
