More than 20 killed in attack on mosque in northwestern Afghanistan

Taliban authorities have confirmed more than 20 dead and 30 wounded in an attack on a mosque in Afghanistan’s northwestern Herat province during Friday prayers, Tolo news channel has reported.

According to the Kabul Security Command, at least 21 people have been killed and 33 others wounded after an explosion that also killed the mosque’s imam, Taliban-affiliated religious scholar Mujib Rahman Ansar.

Kabul Police spokesman Khalid Zadran has assured that the security forces will bring the perpetrators to justice. “An investigation is underway to arrest those responsible,” he said.

Former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has condemned “in the strongest terms” the blast on his official Twitter profile, while sending condolences to the families of the victims, as well as their friends and acquaintances.

For his part, the spokesman of the Taliban government, Zabihullah Mujahid, has initially expressed his condolences for the death of the imam after the explosion, which occurred at about 12.40 pm (local time), as reported by the Jaama news agency.

The 38-year-old imam was a staunch supporter of the Taliban and once declared that any attack, idea or movement against “the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” should end in beheading. He also stated that a man who has a wife who does not cover herself completely in public is a “coward”.

So far, no individual or group has claimed responsibility for this blast. The country continues to suffer attacks on a regular basis, mostly claimed by the country’s affiliate of the terrorist group Islamic State.