Afghan village buries its dead after mosque bombing kills 66
Hundreds of villagers in eastern Afghanistan yesterday attended the funerals for the victims of a bomb that killed at least 66 people during prayers at a local mosque.
Attahullah Khogyani, spokesman for the governor of Nangarhar province, said that the explosion also wounded 36 people when it went off as dozens of people gathered for Friday prayers in the village of Jodari.
He said it was not immediately clear if the congregation at the mosque were attacked by a suicide bomber.
He said the “latest” figure for the death toll was 66, and that 10 wounded had been discharged from hospital after treatment.
Other officials gave a higher death toll.
Sohrab Qaderi, a member of Nangarhar’s provincial council, said the mosque, with a capacity of more than 150 worshippers, was full of people when the bomb exploded.
“Bodies of 69 people, including children and elders, have been handed to their relatives,” Mr Qaderi said.
More bodies could be lying under the rubble, he said.
Villagers from the surrounding Haskamena district said that there were more than 100 worshippers in the mosque at the time of the bombing.
Gulab Shinwari, a villager, said that when he reached the site of the blast with other locals, they found “a heartbreaking scene”.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but both the Taliban and ISIS are active in eastern Afghanistan, especially Nangarhar province.
However, Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban’s spokesman condemned the attack and called it a serious crime.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres “strongly” condemned the attack and said those responsible must be held accountable, his office’s spokesman said.
US ambassador John R Bass, said in a tweet that “killing worshippers assembled together in peace is unconscionable. All Afghans have the right to live and worship together in safety.”
The European Union said the attack sought to undermine hopes for peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan.
Amnesty International’s deputy South Asia director, Omar Waraich, said the attack “demanded the world’s attention”.
“Flagrant violations of international humanitarian law such as deliberate targeting of civilians are not something anyone should get used to or learn to ignore,” he said.
The violence comes just after a United Nations report said that Afghan civilians are dying in record numbers in the country’s increasingly brutal war, noting that more civilians died in July than in any previous one-month period since the UN began keeping statistics.
“Civilian casualties at record-high levels clearly show the need for all parties concerned to pay much more attention to protecting the civilian population, including through a review of conduct during combat operations,” said Tadamichi Yamamoto, the UN secretary general’s special representative for Afghanistan.
The report said that pro-government forces caused 2,348 civilian casualties, including 1,149 killed and 1,199 wounded, a 26 per cent increase from the same period last year.
The report said 2,563 civilians were killed and 5,676 were wounded in the first nine months of this year.
Insurgents were responsible for 62 per cent. The July to September period was the deadliest so far this year.
Khan Mohammad, another villager, said that on the day of the incident there were about 100 to 110 worshippers in the mosque, of which more than 70 were killed and about 30 others were wounded.
The violence comes just after a UN report said that Afghan civilians are dying in record numbers in the increasingly brutal war