Kabul, Afghanistan — A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during evening prayers on Wednesday killed at least 21 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 33, police and an eyewitness said.
Khalid Zadran, the Taliban-appointed spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, gave the figures to The Associated Press after Wednesday’s bombing at the Sunni mosque.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest to strike the country in the year since the Taliban seized power. Several children were reported to be among the wounded.
The local ISIS affiliate has stepped up attacks targeting the Taliban and civilians since the former insurgents’ takeover last August as U.S. and NATO troops were in the final stages of their withdrawal from the country. Last week, ISIS claimed responsibility for killing a prominent Taliban cleric at his religious center in Kabul.
According to an eyewitness, a resident of the city’s Kher Khanna neighborhood where the Siddiquiya Mosque was targeted, the explosion was carried out by a suicide bomber. The slain cleric was Mullah Amir Mohammad Kabuli, the eyewitness said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
Ebrahim Noroozi / AP
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid vowed that the “perpetrators of such crimes will soon be brought to justice and will be punished.”
Oone witness to the blast who gave his name as Qyaamuddin told The Associated Press, “It was evening prayer time, and I was attending the prayer with others, when the explosion happened.” Some Afghans go by a single name.
AP journalists could see the blue-roofed, Sunni mosque from a nearby hillside. The Taliban parked police trucks and other vehicles at the mosque.
A U.S.-led invasion toppled the previous Taliban government, which had hosted al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden in Afghanistan, following the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States.
Since regaining power, the former insurgents have faced a crippling economic crisis since the international community, which doesn’t recognize the Taliban government, froze funding to the country.
Separately, the Taliban confirmed on Wednesday that they had captured and killed Mehdi Mujahid in western Herat province as he was trying to cross the border into Iran.
Mujahid was a former Taliban commander in the district of Balkhab in northern Sar-e-Pul province and the only member of the minority Shiite Hazara community among the Taliban ranks.
Mujahid had turned against the Taliban over the past year after opposing decisions made by Taliban leaders in Kabul.
Kabul mosque bombing kills at least 21, including prominent cleric & Latest News Update
Kabul mosque bombing kills at least 21, including prominent cleric & More Live News
All this news that I have made and shared for you people, you will like it very much and in it we keep bringing topics for you people like every time so that you keep getting news information like trending topics and you It is our goal to be able to get
all kinds of news without going through us so that we can reach you the latest and best news for free so that you can move ahead further by getting the information of that news together with you. Later on, we will continue
to give information about more today world news update types of latest news through posts on our website so that you always keep moving forward in that news and whatever kind of information will be there, it will definitely be conveyed to you people.
Kabul mosque bombing kills at least 21, including prominent cleric & More News Today
All this news that I have brought up to you or will be the most different and best news that you people are not going to get anywhere, along with the information Trending News, Breaking News, Health News, Science News, Sports News, Entertainment News, Technology News, Business News, World News of this made available to all of you so that you are always connected with the news, stay ahead in the matter and keep getting today news all types of news for free till today so that you can get the news by getting it. Always take two steps forward
Credit Goes To News Website – This Original Content Owner News Website . This Is Not My Content So If You Want To Read Original Content You Can Follow Below Links