Death toll in Afghan mosque bombing rises to 33, Taliban say

A Taliban official says a bombing at a mosque and spiritual college in northern Afghanistan on Friday killed at the very least 33 folks, together with college students of a spiritual college.

Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s deputy tradition and knowledge minister, mentioned the bombing within the city of Imam Saheb, in Kunduz Province, additionally wounded one other 43 folks, a lot of them college students.

No one instantly claimed duty, however Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate on Friday claimed a sequence of bombings that occurred a day earlier, the worst of which was an assault on a Shiite mosque in northern Mazar-e-Sharif that killed at the very least 12 Shiite Muslim worshippers and wounded scores extra.

Read | IS claims duty for Afghanistan explosions that killed 31

Earlier the Kunduz provincial police spokesman put the demise toll on the Malawi Bashir Ahmad Mosque and madrassa compound in Imam Saheb at two useless and 6 injured. Mujahid later tweeted the upper casualty numbers tweeting “we condemn this crime…and express our deepest condolences to the victims”.

Friday’s bombing is the most recent in a sequence of lethal assaults throughout Afghanistan. Mujahid referred to as the perpetrator’s of the Kunduz assault “seditionists and evil elements”.

The United Nations referred to as the assault “horrific”. Deputy particular consultant to Afghanistan Ramiz Alakbarov mentioned in a tweet that “killings must stop now and perpetrators brought to justice”.

Since sweeping to energy final August, the Taliban have been battling the upstart Islamic State affiliate often known as Islamic State in Khorasan Province or IS-Okay which is proving to be an intractable safety problem for Afghanistan’s religiously pushed authorities.

Last October the IS-Okay claimed a brutal bombing additionally in northern Kunduz province at a Shiite mosque that killed at the very least 50 folks and wounded greater than 100. In November the Taliban’s intelligence unit carried out sweeping assaults on suspected IS-Okay hideouts in jap Nangarhar province, the place the lethal affiliate is headquartered.

In an announcement Friday, the IS-Okay mentioned the explosive devise that devastated Mazar-e-Sharif’s Sai Doken mosque was hidden in a bag left inside amongst scores of worshippers. As they knelt in prayer, it exploded.

“When the mosque was filled with prayers, the explosives were detonated remotely,” the IS statement said, claiming that 100 people were injured.

The Taliban say they have arrested a former IS-K leader in northern Balkh province, of which Mazar-e-Sharif is the capital. Zabihullah Noorani, information and culture department chief in Balkh province, said Abdul Hamid Sangaryar was arrested in connection with Thursday’s mosque attack.

The IS-K had been relatively inactive in Afghanistan since last November, but in recent weeks have stepped up its attacks in Afghanistan and in neighbouring Pakistan, taking aim at Shiite Muslim communities reviled by Sunni radicals.

Earlier this month two bombs exploded in Kabul’s Shiite neighbourhood of Dasht-e-Barchi, killing at least seven students and wounding several others.

The IS-K established its headquarters in eastern Afghanistan in 2014 and have been blamed for some of the worst attacks in Afghanistan, including a vicious assault on a maternity hospital and at a school that killed more than 80 girls in 2021, months before the Taliban took power.

The IS-K also took responsibility for a brutal bombing outside the Kabul International Airport in August 2021 that killed more than 160 Afghans who had been pushing to enter the airport to flee the country. Thirteen US military personnel also were killed as they oversaw America’s final withdrawal and the end of its 20-year war in Afghanistan.

In recent months, the IS-K has also stepped up attacks in neighbouring Pakistan, targeting a Shiite mosque in the northwestern city of Peshawar in March. More than 65 worshippers were killed. The upstart affiliate has also claimed several deadly attacks against Pakistan’s military .

In Pakistan’s central Punjab city of Faisalabad, the local police on Thursday issued a threat warning, saying “it has been learned that IS-Khas planned to carry out terrorist activities in Faisalabad,” advising people to “exercise extreme vigilance.” The police warning didn’t elaborate.

Meanwhile late on Thursday a Pakistani soldier was killed in southwestern Baluchistan province after militants raided a safety outpost. No one claimed duty. The space has been focused by each IS-Okay in addition to the violent Pakistani Taliban militants often known as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) additionally headquartered in neighboring Afghanistan.

The secure havens of militant teams in Afghanistan has raised considerations for Pakistan which earlier this month carried out air strikes inside Pakistan, killing at the very least 20 youngsters, in response to the United Nations schooling fund (UNICEF).

Pakistan has not confirmed the strikes however has warned Afghanistan’s Taliban to cease its territory getting used to assault throughout the border into Pakistan.

In separate incidents, 5 youngsters have been killed Friday in northern Afghanistan’s Faryab Province whereas enjoying with unexploded ordnance. In one incident, three brothers died after they discovered an unexploded gadget and tried to dismantle it. In a second incident in one other village, two youngsters, ages 7 and eight, have been killed enjoying with a tool, mentioned Shamsullah Mohammadi, Faryab provincial info and tradition head.

After greater than 4 a long time of battle, that included two invasions — one by the previous Soviet Union and one by the US-led coalition — Afghanistan is likely one of the heaviest mined nations on the earth and is plagued by unexploded ordnance.