Locals say a bomb ripped by a minority Shiite mosque in northern Afghanistan on Friday, killing and injuring a “giant quantity” of individuals. The character of the incident in Pol-i-Khomri, Baghlan province’s capital, was not instantly recognized, however the Taliban administration verified it. Talking with AFP, deputy authorities spokesman Bilal Karimi acknowledged: “I condemn it strongly, however presently I haven’t got all the data.”
Based on witnesses, the blast occurred as Shiite worshippers gathered for Friday prayers on the metropolis’s Imam Zaman mosque.
“There was a horrible sound. After the explosion, a lot of martyrs and injured folks had been transferred to the hospital. The state of affairs just isn’t good in any respect,” Abdul Hamid knowledgeable AFP.
One other native resident Saeed Daud acknowledged: “After I was at residence, I heard an enormous explosion. Now the sirens of ambulances are being heard, and the injured are being taken to the hospital.”
He mentioned that native officers had been directing folks to depart the area.
Safety has vastly improved for the reason that Taliban retook management in August 2021, deposing the US-backed authorities.
Nevertheless, the regional chapter of the Islamic State (IS) organisation stays a risk and has beforehand focused Shiites whom they regard as heretics.
Though the Taliban and the Islamic State share an austere Sunni philosophy, Kabul’s new management have sworn to safeguard ethnic and spiritual minorities.
As a substitute of the Taliban’s extra modest goal of controlling an impartial Afghanistan with official relations to different nations, IS is crusading to construct a world “caliphate” — Islamic dominion.
Because the Taliban’s return to energy, IS has carried out assaults on diplomatic missions and governmental buildings in Kabul, in addition to the assassination of two province governors.
Based on the United Nations, they’re additionally chargeable for the September 2022 bombing of a research corridor in a minority Shiite suburb of town, which killed at the least 53 folks, together with 46 women and younger ladies.
IS goals to “provoke sectarian battle and destabilise the area,” and has carried out greater than 190 suicide assaults since 2022, injuring or killing over 1,300 folks, in keeping with a UN Safety Council evaluation issued in Might.
The presence of Islamic State members in Afghanistan has additionally heightened tensions with neighbouring Pakistan, which alleges they’re crossing the border to assault targets on its nation.