A Shiite mosque in the Afghan city of Kunduz came under attack with bomb killing, at least, 50 worshippers on Friday.
The attack came as the bloodiest since US forces left the country.
More victims from the minority community were wounded in the blast. Early signs showed that it might have been designed to further destabilise Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban takeover.
A medical source at the Kunduz Provincial Hospital said that 35 dead and more than 50 wounded had been brought. A worker at a Doctors Without Borders hospital reported 15 dead and scores more wounded.
Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, earlier said an unknown number of people had been killed and injured when “an explosion took place in a mosque of our Shiite compatriots” in Kunduz.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group, arch-rival of the Taliban, has claimed similar recent atrocities.
Residents of Kunduz, the capital of a province of the same name, told AFP the blast hit a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, the most important of the week for Muslims.
Zalmai Alokzai, a local businessman who rushed to Kunduz Provincial Hospital to check whether doctors needed blood donations, described horrific scenes.
“Ambulances were going back to the incident scene to carry the dead,” he said.
An international aid worker at the MSF hospital in the city told AFP that there were fears the death toll could rise.
“Hundreds of people are gathered at the main gate of the hospital and crying for their relatives but armed Taliban guys are trying to prevent gatherings in case another explosion is planned,” he said.
Graphic images shared on social media, which could not immediately be verified, showed several bloodied bodies lying on the floor. Pictures showed plumes of smoke rising into the air over Kunduz.
Another video showed men shepherding people, including women and children, away from the scene. Frightened crowds thronged the streets.
Aminullah, an eyewitness whose brother was at the mosque, told AFP, “After I heard the explosion, I called my brother but he did not pick up.
“I walked towards the mosque and found my brother wounded and faint. We immediately took him to the MSF hospital.”
A female teacher in Kunduz told AFP that the blast happened near her house, and several of her neighbours were killed. “It was a very terrifying incident,” she said.
“Many of our neighbours have been killed and wounded. “A 16-year-old neighbour was killed. They couldn’t find half of his body. Another neighbour who was 24 was killed as well.”
Kunduz’s location makes it a key transit point for economic and trade exchanges with Tajikistan.
It was the scene of fierce battles as the Taliban fought their way back into power this year.
Often targeted by Sunni extremists, Shiite Muslims have suffered some of Afghanistan’s most violent assaults, with rallies bombed, hospitals targeted and commuters ambushed.
In October 2017, a lone IS suicide attacker struck a Shiite mosque as worshippers gathered for evening prayers in the west of Kabul, killing 56 people and wounding 55, including women and children.
In May this year, a series of bombings outside a school in the capital killed, at least, 85 people — mostly young girls. More than 300 were wounded in the attack on the Hazara community.
afp
