AFP Report in The News, October 14, 2023
KABUL: At least seven people were killed and 15 more wounded when an Islamic State suicide bomber attacked a minority Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, the Taliban government said.
The number of bomb blasts and suicide attacks has reduced dramatically since the Taliban ended their insurgency after seizing power in August 2021, ousting the US-backed government.
However, a number of armed groups — including the regional chapter of the Islamic State (IS) organisation — remain a threat.
The blast rang out as Shiite worshippers gathered for Friday prayers at the Imam Zaman mosque in Pol-i-Khomri, the capital of Baghlan province.
“As a result of a suicide attack… seven Shiite compatriots died, and 15 others were injured”, provincial information and media chief Mustafa Asadullah Hashimi said in a statement.
He added that law enforcement agents have been dispatched to the scene “to investigate how this heartbreaking incident happened”. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for the attack.
An IS fighter “reached the centre of the gathering … and then blew up his explosive belt”, said a statement from the jihadists´ Amaq news agency.
A source at Baghlan Provincial Hospital — who asked to remain anonymous — put the tally higher, saying 19 bodies and 40 wounded patients had been brought to the facility so far.
One resident who feared his father and brother were in the blast zone was struggling to find out their fate.
The Taliban and IS share an austere Sunni ideology, however, Kabul´s new rulers have pledged to protect ethnic and religious minorities.
https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/1118951-7-martyred-in-is-attack-on-afghan-shia-mosque
