At least seven people were killed and 15 others injured following an explosion in a Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan during Friday prayers, the Taliban government said on Friday, October 13.
The explosion, which took place while worshipers were gathered in the Imam Zaman mosque in Pol-e-Khomri, capital of Baghlan province, was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) group. A member of ISIS “reached the center of the gathering (…) and detonated his explosive belt”according to a press release from its communications organ Amaq.
“Security forces and investigators have visited the scene of the incident to determine how this deplorable event occurred”said Baghlan provincial information officer Mustafa Asadullah Hashimi. “Investigations continue”he added, confirming the death toll.
“I strongly condemn, but at the moment I do not have all the information”, deputy government spokesperson Bilal Karimi announced to Agence France-Presse (AFP). Several attacks on mosques, particularly during Friday prayers, have taken place in Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021.
Dozens of attacks in the last two years
A source from the Baghlan provincial hospital, who wished to remain anonymous, reported a higher toll, saying that nineteen bodies and forty injured had been transported to the hospital. “Dead and injured people were also transported to other private hospitals”he told AFP.
The Taliban’s return to power ended two decades of war in Afghanistan and led to a significant reduction in violence. But even if the authorities claim to have security in the country under control, dozens of attacks targeting civilians have been carried out in the last two years in the country. Most have been claimed by ISIS-K, the local chapter of the Islamic State group. Hundreds of people were killed or injured in these attacks, mainly targeting Shiite, Sufi and Sikh religious minorities, foreigners or foreign interests, and the Taliban themselves.
Analysts consider that the jihadists of IS, a Sunni group like the Taliban, but with which the latter maintain deep enmity and ideological differences, remain the main threat weighing on the Kabul regime.