Status: October 15, 2021 2:16 p.m.
Another attack on a mosque is reported from Afghanistan. At least 20 people were killed in explosions in the Shiite church in Kandahar. Dozens were injured.
Several explosions in a Shiite mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar have killed at least 20 people and injured 30 others, a spokesman for the health authority confirmed. He stressed that the information is provisional. A doctor at the local hospital, on the other hand, even spoke of 32 dead and 53 injured, as reported by the AFP news agency.
According to local media reports, the detonations occurred during Friday prayers in the Fatemieh Mosque. An eyewitness reported three explosions – one at the main entrance to the mosque, another in the southern part of the house of God and a third in a room where the faithful do their ablutions.
Nobody known about explosions yet
Special forces are on site to investigate the type of detonation, said a spokesman for the militant Islamist Taliban. So far, no group has known about the explosion.
Second incident within a week
Just last Friday, more than 40 people were killed and more than 140 injured in an attack on a mosque belonging to the Shiite minority in the city of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan. The Sunni terrorist militia “Islamic State” (IS), which is hostile to the ruling Taliban, claimed the attack for itself. Sunni extremists accuse Shiite Muslims of having fallen from the right faith.
IS is hostile to the Taliban, which is also Sunni, despite great ideological closeness. The Taliban have fought ISIS since it appeared in Afghanistan in early 2015. ISIS had already attacked Shiite Muslims and their facilities in Afghanistan in the past. Attacks occurred mainly in the capital Kabul and in the eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar. Most recently, IS claimed, among other things, a devastating attack at the end of August at Kabul airport while the international military evacuation mission was still ongoing. At that time, according to media reports, almost 200 people died.
The Taliban came to power in August
In mid-August, the Taliban took over military power in Afghanistan. The army and police fell apart and government officials fled. The Islamists proclaimed a government. This is confronted with numerous problems, including ensuring security in the country.