Apr 29, 2022 - World

Blast at Kabul mosque kills at least 10 and injures dozens of others

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Wounded people are dispatched to hospitals after a bomb exploded in a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul during Friday prayers on April 29, 2022 — Wounded people are dispatched to hospitals after a bomb exploded in a mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul during Friday prayers on April 29. Photo: Haroon Sabawoon/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

An explosion at a packed mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul on Friday killed at least 10 people and injured dozens of others, AP reports.

Driving the news: The blast at the Khalifa Aga Gul Jan Mosque, a Sunni mosque in western Kabul, took place as worshippers gathered for prayers on the last Friday of the holy month of Ramadan. Officials fear the death toll will rise.

No group immediately claimed responsibility.

The big picture: It's the latest in a series of attacks on places of worship, educational institutions and other places in recent weeks. While many of the attacks have targeted Afghanistan's Shiite minority, Sunni mosques have been hit as well.

Two blasts claimed by ISIS killed at least nine people who were traveling on passenger vans carrying Shiite Muslims in northern Afghanistan on Thursday, per Reuters.
Kabul's Emergency Hospital said it had received over 100 victims of attacks in the month of April alone.

What they're saying: The Taliban strongly condemned Friday's attack, saying such acts "have nothing do with Islam and the country."

Mette Knudsen, the UN secretary-general’s deputy special representative for Afghanistan, said in a statement that "no words are strong enough to condemn this despicable act, targeting a place of worship, as Muslims across Afghanistan prepare to celebrate the Eid" religious holiday.
It "totally disregards human lives and religious sanctity," Knudsen added.

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Blast at Kabul mosque kills at least 10 and injures dozens of others

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