Explosions Destroy Shia Mosque In Afghanistan, Officials Say 100 Dead

Explosion illustration. (Stephen Radford/Unsplash)

JAKARTA - An explosion destroyed a mosque in Afghanistan's northeastern Kunduz province on Friday, killing and wounding many people, Taliban officials said.

Taliban police officials say at least 100 people were killed and injured in a mosque blast targeting Shia Muslims in northern Afghanistan. Dost Mohammad Obaida said most of them were killed, citing the Times of India 8 October.

There was no immediate claim of an explosion in Kunduz province, but Islamic State militants have a long history of attacking Afghanistan's Shia Muslim minority.

Meanwhile, video footage shows bodies surrounded by rubble inside a mosque used by people from the minority Shiite Muslim community.

The blasts follow several attacks, including one on a mosque in Kabul, in recent weeks, some of which have been claimed by Islamic State's Sunni Muslim militant.

A Taliban official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said dozens more were injured in Friday's blast.

The attack has underscored the security challenges for the Taliban, who took control of the country in August and have since carried out operations against Islamic State cells in Kabul.

"This afternoon, an explosion occurred in a mosque of our Shia colleagues. As a result a number of our comrades were martyred and injured," Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.