The Interior Ministry initially confirmed at least ten dead on Friday. Many believers had gathered at the Sunni mosque to take part in the religious commemoration of Zikr. One participant, apparently a suicide bomber, detonated a bomb, said mosque director Sayed Fasil Agha.
“Black smoke was rising and spreading everywhere, there were bodies everywhere,” he told Reuters. His nephews are also among the dead. The attack is one in a series of attacks aimed at either Sunnis or Shiites, representatives of the two dominant forms of Islam. As recently as Thursday, explosive devices detonated in two minibuses occupied by Shiites in Mazar-i-Sharif in the north of the country, killing at least nine of them.
The Taliban say they have brought peace to Afghanistan since taking power last August. Above all, they have all but eliminated the Islamic State extremist group. However, numerous Afghans have died in attacks in recent weeks. The Islamic State has claimed responsibility for some of them. Representatives of international organizations and observers warn that Afghanistan could slide back into a civil war in which various interest groups fight each other.
Source: Nachrichten
