IS claims deadly suicide attack on Shia mosque in Afghanistan

>>KABUL: The Islamic State (IS) group yesterday claimed responsibility for a suicide bomb attack on a Shia mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar that killed at least 41 people and injured scores more.

The Friday assault came just a week after another IS-claimed attack on Shia worshippers at a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz that killed more than 60 people.

In a statement released on its Telegram channels, the jihadist group said two Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) suicide bombers carried out separate attacks on different parts of the mosque in Kandahar — the spiritual heartland of the Taliban — while worshippers prayed inside.

The group, a bitter rival of fellow Sunni Islamist movement the Taliban, which swept back to power in Afghanistan in August as the United States and its allies withdrew, regards Shia Muslims as heretics.

UK-based conflict analysis firm ExTrac said Friday’s assault was the first by IS-K in Kandahar, and the fourth mass casualty massacre since the Taliban took Kabul.

ExTrac researcher Abdul Sayed said the attack was “challenging the Taliban claims of holding control on the country. If the Taliban can’t protect Kandahar from an IS-K attack, how could it protect the rest of the country?”

Inside the mosque, after the blast, the walls were pockmarked with shrapnel and volunteers swept up debris in the ornately painted prayer hall. Rubble lay in an entrance corridor.

In the wake of the explosions, Kandahar police chief Maulvi Mehmood said “a brutal attack has been witnessed on a Shi’ite [Shia] mosque as a result of which a huge number of our countrymen have lost their lives”.

In a video statement, Mehmood said security for the mosque had been provided by guards from the Shia community but that henceforth the Taliban would take charge of its protection.

Hafiz Abdulhai Abbas, director of health for Kandahar, said 41 people had been killed about 70 wounded, according to hospital information.

At least 15 ambulances were seen rushing to and from the scene, as Taliban security cordoned off the area.

“We are overwhelmed,” a doctor at the city’s central Mirwais hospital said.

“There are too many dead bodies and wounded people brought to our hospital. We are expecting more to come. We are in urgent need of blood.

“We have asked all the local media in Kandahar to ask people to come and donate blood.”

Witnesses spoke of gunfire alongside the explosions, and a security guard assigned to protect the mosque said three of his comrades had been shot as the bombers fought their way in.

Sayed Rohullah said: “It was the Friday prayer time, and when we were preparing I heard shots. Two people had entered the mosque.

“They had opened fire on the guards and in response the guards had also opened fire on them.”