Twelve killed in Afghanistan explosion at Kabul mosque during Friday prayers
- Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday through its Nasheer news agency on Telegram
- Kabul police said the mosque’s Imam was among the 12 dead and at least 15 people were wounded in the blast
An explosion inside a mosque on the outskirts of the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 12 people during Friday prayers as worshippers gathered for the Eid al-Fitr holiday during a ceasefire.
The Taliban insurgent group, which declared the three-day truce for the holiday, condemned the attack in a statement.
Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack on Saturday through its Nasheer news agency on Telegram.
Ferdous Faramarz, spokesman for the Kabul police, said the mosque’s Imam was among the 12 dead and at least 15 people were wounded in the blast in the capital’s Shakar Dara district.
The blast came less than a week after an explosion at a school killed 80 people, most of them schoolgirls from the ethnic Hazara Shiite Muslim minority. The Taliban also denounced that attack and no one claimed responsibility.
United States officials believe the attack on the school may have been the work of a rival militant group such as Islamic State. Such groups have not signed on to the holiday ceasefire.