Terrorist Attacks in Afghanistan Kill Dozens
A bombing at a mosque in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif has killed at least 31 worshipers and injured more than 80, in the second major attack on the Shia Hazara community in Afghanistan in a week.
Afghan media reports quoting health officials said that 31 dead bodies and 80 wounded had so far been brought to the main Abu Ali Sina hospital in Mazar-e-Sharif.
The death toll could rise as some of the injured are in a critical condition, they said.
Images of the victims being carried to hospital from the Seh Dokan mosque were posted on social media. The images also showed a scene littered with broken glass.
Daesh terrorists claimed responsibility for the attack, according to a statement on the group's Telegram channel.
The statement added that the attack on the Mazar-i-Sharif mosque was carried out using a remotely detonated booby-trapped bag when the building was packed with worshipers.
On Tuesday, two blasts outside a school in a Hazara community neighborhood of Kabul killed at least 20 people and wounded more than two dozen others.
The Hazara community, the poorest of the country’s ethnic groups, accounts for about 22 percent of Afghanistan’s population. Its members have been targeted in several large-scale kidnappings and killings across Afghanistan in the past.
In May last year at least 85 people -- mainly girl students -- were killed and about 300 wounded when three bombs exploded near their school in the Shia-dominated Dasht-e-Barchi neighborhood of Kabul.
In October 2020, Daesh admitted attacking an educational center in the same area that killed 24 people, including students.
In May 2020, the group was blamed for a bloody attack on a maternity ward of a hospital in the same neighborhood that killed 25 people, including new mothers.
Daesh has a foothold in eastern and northern Afghanistan, particularly in Nangarhar, which is regarded as its base in the war-torn country. It has recently claimed responsibility for several attacks across Afghanistan.
Blast kills four people in Kunduz
Separately, at least four people were killed and 18 wounded in a blast in Kunduz, another northern Afghan city.
Provincial police spokesman Obaidullah Abedi said it was caused by a bicycle bomb targeting a vehicle carrying mechanics working for a Taliban military unit.
Source: PressTV
