KUNDUZ: Over 50 people were killed as a deadly bomb blast targeted a mosque in Afghanistan’s Kunduz city Friday.
Interior ministry spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti confirmed the blast to AFP, without giving details. Local residents told AFP the blast hit the mosque during the Friday prayers, the most important of the week.
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According to Reuters, video footage showed bodies surrounded by debris inside the mosque that is used by people from the minority Shi’ite community.
No group immediately claimed responsibility. The blast followed several attacks, including one at a mosque in Kabul, in recent weeks, some of which have been claimed by the militant group, Daesh.
The attacks have underscored security challenges for the Taliban, which took over the country in August and have since carried out operations against Daesh cells in Kabul.
“This afternoon, an explosion took place in a mosque of our Shi’ite compatriots … as a result of which a number of our compatriots were martyred and wounded,” Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.
