At Least 100 People Dead In Afghan Mosque Suicide Attack

According to a Taliban police officer, an explosion occurred amid Shiite Muslim worshipers in a mosque in northern Afghanistan on 8th October 2021, killing or injuring at least 100 people.

Although there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the explosion in Kunduz, the capital of Kunduz province, Islamic State terrorists have a long history of assaulting Afghanistan’s Shiite Muslim minority.

“Most of them have been slain,” said Dost Mohammad Obaida, deputy police chief for Kunduz province. He speculated that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber who mixed in among the worshipers.

If verified, the death toll would be the biggest since US and NATO soldiers withdrew from Afghanistan at the end of August, leaving the Taliban in charge. IS has targeted the Taliban in a series of fatal strikes, including ambushes and an explosion at a mosque in Kabul’s capital.

The blast occurred during the Gozare Sayed Abad Mosque’s weekly Friday prayer service. The Friday midday prayer is the most important religious event for Muslims, and mosques are usually packed.

Ali Reza, a witness, claimed he was praying at the time of the explosion and saw several victims.

Several wounded victims were on the floor in graphic photos published on social media, which could not be authenticated right away. Smoke plumes could be seen rising into the air over Kunduz in photographs.