Explosion at Afghan mosque kills or wounds dozens of people | News

Latest deadly attack on a place of worship reportedly occurred at a Sunni mosque in Kunduz city in northern Afghanistan.

An explosion tore through a mosque in the northern Afghan city of Kunduz on Friday killing or wounding dozens of people.

The explosion hit the Mawlavi Sikandar mosque, provincial police spokesman Obaidullah Abedi told AFP news agency.

“At the moment we have no details about the type of the blast or about casualties,” he said.

A nurse at a nearby district hospital said between 30 to 40 victims had been admitted.

Qari Badri, the commander of Kunduz province, told Reuters news agency 20 people had been killed or wounded in the blast at a Sunni mosque.

It was not clear who was behind the attack, which came after several blasts claimed by the armed group ISIL (ISIS) rocked Afghanistan, including one in Kunduz and another on a Shia mosque in Mazar-i-Sharif, the previous day.

The deadliest of three bombings on Thursday exploded inside a Shia mosque in northern Mazar-i-Sharif with at least 12 people killed and as many as 40 wounded.

Earlier Thursday, a roadside bomb exploded near a boys school in the Afghan capital of Kabul, injuring two children in the city’s predominately Shia neighbourhood of Dasht-e-Barchi. A third bomb in Kunduz wounded 11 mechanics working for the country’s Taliban rulers.

Since sweeping to power last August, the Taliban has been battling the an ISIL affiliate known as Islamic State in Khorasan Province, which is proving to be an intractable security challenge.