Afghan Mosque Hit by Deadly Suicide Bombing

A witness said that dozens of folks ended up killed or wounded at the Kandahar mosque, like his cousin, who died of his wounds.

“The prayer had ended. We ended up making ready to go away the mosque when we heard gunfire exterior. A handful of seconds later on, there was a blast inside of. I was shut to the entrance and managed to escape rapidly,” said the witness, who didn’t want to be named. He said two suicide bombers detonated exterior the mosque and a 3rd blew himself up inside of.

There was no immediate declare of responsibility for the bombing, but it adopted a number of attacks on Afghanistan’s Shiite minority that ended up claimed by Islamic State’s regional affiliate, Islamic Point out-Khorasan Province.

When the two the Taliban and Islamic Point out adhere to a stringent interpretation of Sunni Islam, the two teams have profound ideological discrepancies and take into consideration each individual other enemies. However the Taliban persecuted Shiites in the past, they have due to the fact softened their position and say that, underneath their rule, the spiritual independence of Afghanistan’s Shiite local community will be safeguarded. Islamic Point out considers all Shiite Muslims infidels who ought to be killed.

The the latest collection of lethal bombings present a challenge to the Taliban federal government. Given that the Taliban toppled the U.S.-backed Afghan republic on Aug. 15, enhanced safety has been a key resource of legitimacy for Afghanistan’s new rulers. Friday’s blast exhibits that the Taliban are battling to ensure safety even in Kandahar, their historic stronghold.

—Jalaludin Nazari contributed to this write-up.

Create to Margherita Stancati at [email protected] and Ehsanullah Amiri at [email protected]