A bomb blast in the Afghan capital ripped through a Sunni mosque and killed at least 10 worshipers on Friday, Afghan Ministry of Interior Affairs officials said, the latest in a wave of attacks that have rocked the country during the holy month of Ramadan.
Dozens of civilians have been killed in the primarily sectarian attacks — some claimed by the Islamic State group — targeting members of the Shiite and Sufi Muslim communities.
Grisly images of Friday’s blast posted on social media showed survivors running out of the mosque, with some carrying victims including children. Patches of blood could be seen on the floor of the mosque compound.
Photo: AP
“Many worshipers were at the Khalifa Sahib mosque when the blast went off,” said a survivor who gave his name as Ahmad. “Many victims were thrown off their feet.”
The target of the blast appeared to be members of the minority Sufi community who were performing rituals after completing Friday prayers, an official said.
Bloodied casualties were ferried in ambulances and vehicles to a hospital in central Kabul, but Taliban fighters barred journalists from accessing the facility.
Groups of women were crying outside the hospital and near the mosque as they attempted to find their loved ones, an Agence France-Presse correspondent reported.
“Around 300 to 400 people were performing rituals when the blast occurred,” said a resident from the area who only gave the name Faraidun. “I helped carry in vehicles 10 to 15 injured and three who were killed. Many of the injured and martyred are still being evacuated.”
Interior ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said that at least 10 people were killed, while Kabul police said another 30 were injured.
“All of them had come to perform rituals when the blast occurred,” Takor said.
Deputy ministry spokesman Bismillah Habib said the explosives had been placed inside the mosque.
UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan Ramiz Alakbarov condemned the blast.
“Today’s blast ... is yet another painful blow to the people of Afghanistan who continue to be exposed to unremitting insecurity and violence,” he said in a statement.
Later on Friday, municipal workers wearing orange jumpsuits cleaned the site, while Taliban fighters cordoned off the area.
No group has so far claimed responsibility for the attack.
The pledge by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi to “work, work, work, work and work” for her country has been named the catchphrase of the year, recognizing the effort Japan’s first female leader had to make to reach the top. Takaichi uttered the phrase in October when she was elected as head of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP). Many were initially as worried about her work ethic as supportive of her enthusiasm. In a country notorious for long working hours, especially for working women who are also burdened with homemaking and caregiving, overwork is a sensitive topic. The recognition triggered a
‘HEART IS ACHING’: Lee appeared to baffle many when he said he had never heard of six South Koreans being held in North Korea, drawing criticism from the families South Korean President Lee Jae-myung yesterday said he was weighing a possible apology to North Korea over suspicions that his ousted conservative predecessor intentionally sought to raise military tensions between the war-divided rivals in the buildup to his brief martial law declaration in December last year. Speaking to reporters on the first anniversary of imprisoned former South Korean president Yoon Suk-yeol’s ill-fated power grab, Lee — a liberal who won a snap presidential election following Yoon’s removal from office in April — stressed his desire to repair ties with Pyongyang. A special prosecutor last month indicted Yoon and two of his top
The Philippines deferred the awarding of a project that is part of a plan to build one of the world’s longest marine bridges after local opposition over the potential involvement of a Chinese company due to national security fears. The proposals are “undergoing thorough review” by the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which acts as a lender and an overseer of the project to ensure it meets international environmental and governance standards, the Philippine Department of Public Works and Highways said in a statement on Monday in response to queries from Bloomberg. The agency said it would announce the winning bidder once ADB
IN ABSENTIA: The MP for Hampstead and Highgate in London, a niece of deposed Bangladesh prime minister Sheik Hasina, condemned the ‘flawed and farcical’ trial A court in Bangladesh yesterday sentenced British Member of Parliament Tulip Siddiq to two years in jail after a judge ruled she was complicit in corrupt land deals with her aunt, the country’s deposed prime minister Sheikh Hasina. A judge found Siddiq, the Labour MP for Hampstead and Highgate, guilty of misusing her “special influence” as a British politician to coerce Hasina into giving valuable pieces of land to her mother, brother and sister. Siddiq’s mother, Sheikh Rehana, was given seven years in prison and considered the prime participant in the case. The trial had been carried out in absentia: Neither Hasina, Siddiq,
RSS