At least 21 people were killed and 33 injured in a bomb attack at a mosque in Kabul on Wednesday August 17 at the time of evening prayers, according to a police report given on Thursday.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), an explosion occurred in a mosque (…) during the evening prayer. As a result, 21 of our fellow citizens died as martyrs and 33 were injuredKabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran said in a statement. “The explosion was caused by explosives placed in the mosqueSunni Sediqia, located in the northwest of the Afghan capital, he told AFP.
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The number of attacks has decreased in Afghanistan since the Taliban took power a year ago, but they have not stopped. Most are claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State. The Italian NGO Emergency, which operates in a Kabul hospital, said in an email on Wednesday evening that it had received 27 victims, three of whom had died. “Most of the patients we have received (…) suffer from injuries caused by shrapnel and burns“, she had specified. Later, in a tweet, the NGO added that five children were among those treated, including a seven-year-old. Local hospitals contacted by AFP said they were not authorized to provide details of victims they had treated.
The targeted mosque is located in the Sunni Khair Khana district and also has a Koranic school. “He was my cousin, God forgive him“, told AFP Masiullah, a resident of the district, questioned in a cemetery near the mosque, where this member of his family killed in the explosion was buried Thursday morning. “A year had passed since his marriage, he was 27 and his name was Fardin… he was a good person“, he added. Thursday morning, the mosque, whose windows were broken, was secured by many armed Taliban, also present in the streets around which they prohibited access to journalists, AFP noted. Taliban officials regularly claim they have security in the country under control, and often deny or downplay incidents reported on social media. Recently, they have also become accustomed to preventing – sometimes violently – the local and foreign media from approaching places hit by attacks.
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Wednesday’s attack comes nearly a week after a Taliban cleric and his brother were killed in a suicide bombing at a Koranic school in Kabul, claimed by the Islamic State group. The cleric, Rahimullah Haqqani, was particularly known for his fiery speeches against IS. Several deadly attacks took place in August in Kabul. A series of bomb attacks hit the country especially at the end of April, during the holy month of Ramadan, and at the end of May, in which dozens of people were killed. Most of the attacks were claimed by IS, which mainly targets Afghan Shia, Sufi and Sikh religious minorities, but also the Taliban.
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Wednesday’s attack took place as senior Taliban leaders participated Thursday in a large assembly of some 2,000 religious leaders and elders in Kandahar (south), cradle and decision-making center of the Islamist movement. The Taliban celebrated Monday in Kabul the first anniversary of their return to power in Afghanistan, a year marked by a sharp regression in women’s rights and a deep humanitarian and economic crisis. No country has so far recognized the new power in Kabul.