10 people die in Kabul explosion

Up to 30 more hurt at mosque; blast follows recent attacks

KABUL, Afghanistan — An explosion ripped through a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul on Friday, killing at least 10 people and wounding as many as 30, a Taliban spokesman said.

Hundreds of worshippers had gathered for prayers on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and the Khalifa Aga Gul Jan Mosque was packed, said local residents, fearing the casualty toll could rise further.

The Taliban- appointed interior ministry spokesman, Mohammad Nafi Takor, could not provide more details and Taliban security men cordoned off the area. The source of the explosion was not immediately known and no one has claimed responsibility for the blast.

Initially, at least 20 were reported wounded but Khalid Zadran, spokesman for the Taliban-appointed Kabul police chief, later raised the number to as many as 30.

The death toll remained at 10, he said. He also tweeted that “security agencies are investigating the incident.”

Taliban guards cordoned off the Italian-run EMERGENCY hospital, denying access to everyone but the wounded.

The hospital, which treats only the war-wounded, tweeted that its staff reported the facility has admitted at least “23 wounded” and two who died shortly after the explosion.

The United Nations condemned the explosion, describing it as “heinous” and “yet another painful blow to the people of Afghanistan who continue to be exposed to unremitting insecurity and violence,” according to Ramiz Alakbarov, the U.N.’s deputy special representative coordinating humanitarian relief.

“It is unconscionable for civilians to be targeted indiscriminately as they go about their daily business, gathering for prayers, going to school or the market, or on their way to work,” he said.

The explosion was the latest in a series of such blasts amid relentless attacks across the country. Similar attacks on mosques have recently targeted the country’s minority Shiite Muslims and were claimed by the Islamic State group’s regional affiliate, known as Islamic State in Khorasan Province.

ISIS has stepped up its attacks across Afghanistan to become the primary enemy of the Taliban since their takeover of the country last August.

Despite Taliban claims to have routed ISIS from its headquarters in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province, the militant group’s renewed assaults on mosques, schools and buses underscores the intransigent threat it poses.

The relentless bombings have prompted protests by minority Shiites and have seriously undermined Afghanistan’s new Taliban rulers as they transition from insurgency and war to governing and trying to bring security to the war-ravaged nation.