At least 89 killed in bombings on two Afghan mosques
At least 56 people were killed in the first attack claimed by Daesh on a Shia mosque in Kabul at a time when worshippers gathered for prayers. A separate attack on a Sunni mosque in the central province of Ghor killed at least 33 more.
Afghan men inspect inside a Shia Muslim mosque after a suicide attack in Kabul.
The death toll in the Shia Muslim mosque attack in Kabul has climbed to 56, officials said on Saturday, as the Afghan capital reels from the latest violence.
"The toll from yesterday's Imam Zaman mosque attack has increased to 56 killed, including women and children, and 55 wounded," an interior ministry spokesman said.
It was one of two deadly mosque attacks in the country on Friday, capping one of the bloodiest weeks in Afghanistan in recent memory.
In another attack, a suicide bomber detonated himself in a Sunni Muslim mosque in the impoverished and remote central province of Ghor, killing 33 people on Friday, raising the death toll in mosque attacks to 89.
On Saturday, Daesh claimed responsibility for the Kabul attack.
"The martyrdom-seeking brother Abu Ammar al-Turkmani ... succeeded in immersing himself with an explosive vest in a temple of the polytheists," Daesh said in a message on Telegram.
"He detonated his vest among the crowd."
TRT World's Ben Said has more.
Second attack
In the Ghor attack, a senior local police commander, who is believed to have been the target of the attack in Dolaina district, was among the dead, district governor Mohsen Danishyar said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility.
Afghanistan's Shia population has been heavily hit this year, with at least 84 people killed and 194 wounded in attacks on their mosques and religious ceremonies, according to a UN report released last week.
Among those were at least two attacks on mosques in Kabul in August and September.
Copyright © 2024 TRT World.