#dead #Kabul #mosque #explosion #hospital
A blast ripped through a mosque full of worshipers in the Afghan capital Kabul on Wednesday night, killing at least three people and injuring two dozen others, a hospital and officials said.
The blast happened as people were performing evening prayers at the mosque in a north-western district of Kabul.
The Italian NGO Emergency, which runs a hospital in Kabul, said it suffered 27 casualties from the blast, including three fatalities.
“Most of the patients we admitted to a mosque after the explosion are suffering from grenade and burn injuries,” the email said.
In a later tweet, the hospital said five children were being treated, including a seven-year-old.
Taliban government spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid confirmed that there were people killed and injured in the blast, but did not say how many.
“The killers of civilians and perpetrators … will soon be punished for their crimes,” he said on Twitter.
Some local social media accounts said a senior cleric was killed in the blast, but the reports could not be independently confirmed.
Wednesday’s blast came nearly a week after a suicide bombing that killed a senior Taliban cleric at his madrassa in Kabul.
On August 11, a suicide bomber blew himself up in the medrese of cleric Rahimullah Haqqani, killing him along with his brother.
The attack was claimed by the jihadist group Islamic State (IS).
Since the Taliban seized power a year ago, violence across the country has decreased significantly.
However, IS has regularly carried out attacks, mainly targeting minorities such as Shia, Sufis and Sikhs.
The Taliban say they’ve defeated ISIS, but experts say the group remains a key security challenge for hard-line Islamists.
Last week, a senior Taliban cleric known for his fiery speeches against ISIS was killed at his madrassa in the Afghan capital in a suicide bombing the jihadist group claimed.
Rahimullah Haqqani had survived at least two previous assassination attempts – including one in October 2020 in Pakistan.
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