The UN mission in Afghanistan (Unama) had previously spoken of at least 30 dead in a tweet. Other sources named at least 40 dead on Friday evening (local time). At least 68 people were also injured, Bachtar continued.
Initially, no one confessed to the attack during Friday prayers. The course of events was also unclear. Arif Rahmani, a Shiite and former member of an Afghan regional parliament, wrote on Twitter that three out of five suicide bombers made it into the mosque and blew themselves up one after the other amid prayers. An eyewitness said three men were originally involved. Two broke into the mosque and a third was killed by a security guard.
The Taliban, which has ruled Afghanistan since mid-August, spoke of a “great crime” and condemned the attack. The authors would be held accountable, it was said. In pictures in the media and on social networks, injured persons were shown lying on the floor. Unama condemned the incident and also said the perpetrators should be held accountable.
Just last Friday, more than 40 people were killed and more than 140 others injured in a suicide attack on a mosque belonging to the Shiite minority in the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. The Islamic State (IS) terrorist militia, which is hostile to the Sunni Taliban but is also Sunni, claimed the attack for itself.
Sunni extremists accuse Shiite Muslims of having fallen from the right faith. The Taliban have fought ISIS since it appeared in Afghanistan at the beginning of 2015, despite great ideological proximity.
ISIS had already attacked Shiite Muslims and their facilities in Afghanistan in the past. Attacks occurred mainly in the capital Kabul and in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar. Most recently, IS claimed, among other things, a devastating attack at the end of August at Kabul airport while the international military evacuation mission was still ongoing. At that time, according to media reports, almost 200 people died.
The Taliban took over military power in Afghanistan in mid-August. The army and police fell apart and government officials fled. The Islamists proclaimed their own government. This is confronted with numerous problems, such as ensuring security in the country. Afghanistan is also facing a humanitarian crisis and, according to the UN, a possible economic collapse.
Last weekend in Doha, the capital of the Gulf emirate of Qatar, the first personal talks between representatives of the USA and the Taliban took place since they came to power. At the two-day meeting, the US delegation focused, among other things, on security and terrorism issues, the US State Department then announced. It was also about the safe departure of US citizens, other foreign nationals and Afghan local staff, as well as compliance with human rights and humanitarian aid for the population.