20 killed in suicide attack on Afghan Shia mosque

KHOST (Afghanistan): A suicide blast struck a Shia mosque in eastern Afghanistan yesterday as it was crowded with worshippers for weekly prayers, killing at least 20 people and wounding dozens in the latest attack on the minority.

Officials said they feared the death toll could rise after the assault, the latest targeting civilians who have borne the brunt of the violence in Afghanistan’s long conflict.

“A suicide blast took place inside a Shia mosque in the city of Gardez of Paktia province,” General Raz Mohammad Mandozai, provincial police chief of Paktia near the Pakistan border, said.

“We have 20 people killed and around 50 others were wounded. All the victims were worshippers as they were busy offering Friday prayers when they were killed.”

Mandozai added that at least two attackers opened fire on the crowd before detonating explosives, and said there might have been more than one suicide blast.

Abdullah Hasrat, the Paktia governor’s spokesman, gave a slightly higher death toll of 22, warning that it could rise.

The head of Gardez’s public health department Wilayat Khan Ahmadzai said more than 70 people had been killed and wounded, with many rushed to hospital.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.

It comes as urban areas across Afghanistan have been rocked by an increasing number of attacks in recent months, with both Islamic State (IS) and Taliban insurgents targeting security forces and government installations.

Taliban has not claimed a major attack in a city for weeks as it comes under increased pressure to agree to peace talks with the Afghan government.

But IS has carried out multiple attacks in the eastern city of Jalalabad and the capital Kabul in recent months, targeting everything from government ministries to a midwife training centre.

Last month, an IS suicide bomber blew himself up near Kabul international airport, killing 23 people.