Status: 16.10.2021 4:00 a.m.
The Islamic State extremist militia has committed itself to the suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar. More than 40 people were killed in the attack.
The group of Islamic State Khorasan Province (IS-K) has claimed that at least 41 people were killed in a suicide attack on a mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar. The regional branch of the jihadist militia IS stated in a message on its Telegram channels that two suicide bombers had carried out separate attacks on different parts of the mosque.
The explosions occurred during traditional Friday prayers in the Shiite mosque. The first suicide bomber detonated his explosives belt in a hallway of the mosque, the statement said. The second attacker caused an explosion “in the center of the mosque”.
IS-K is hostile to the Taliban
Eyewitnesses also reported that the act was carried out by several suicide bombers. Two attackers opened fire at the main entrance to the mosque, said security guard Sayed Rohullah. One of them blew himself up after a firefight with the security forces. According to several eyewitnesses, two other suicide bombers set off their explosives outside the main building of the mosque. Around 70 people were injured.
Just a week ago, dozens of people were killed in a suicide attack on a Shiite mosque in Kunduz, northern Afghanistan. The group of Islamic State Khorasan Province claimed this attack as their own. IS-K, founded in 2014, is hostile to the Taliban. Fatal attacks are repeatedly carried out in Afghanistan. A radical Islamic Taliban police chief was killed in a car bomb attack in Kunar province on Thursday.