A massive explosion left more than 50 dead after Friday prayers at a mosque in Kabul, according to temple leaders, in the latest in a series of attacks on civilian targets in Afghanistan during Ramadan, the holy month for the Islamists.
The blast hit the Khalifa Sahib mosque in the west of the capital in the early afternoon, the Interior Ministry said, according to which the official death toll already confirmed is still 10 victims. Health bodies consulted by Reuters, however, say that hospitals in the city have received 66 bodies and treated 78 wounded so far.
The attack came as worshipers gathered after Friday prayers for a ceremony known as “zikr” or “dhikr”, a religious ritual practiced by some Muslims that consists of repeating mantras to remember God and which is seen as heretical by some hardline Sunni groups.
Sayed Fazil Agha, the head of the mosque, recounted the moment of the attack. According to him, a man joined the group during the ceremony and detonated explosives. “Black smoke rose and spread everywhere, dead bodies were everywhere,” he said, adding that his nephews were among the dead. “I survived, but I lost my loved ones.”
Mohammad Sabir, a resident of the area, said he saw the wounded being loaded into ambulances. “The explosion was so loud, I thought my eardrums had been ruptured,” he said.
The attack was condemned by international bodies. According to the UN, at least two UN staff and their families were at the mosque at the scene at the time of the attack. “No words are strong enough to condemn this despicable act,” said Mette Knudsen, who represents the UN secretary-general in Afghanistan.
The Taliban, a fundamentalist group that has ruled the country since last year, released a statement condemning the blast and saying the perpetrators would be found and punished. So far, no group has claimed the attack.
The attack comes on the last Friday of the month of Ramadan, in which most Muslims fast, and before the Eid holiday next week.
Dozens of Afghan civilians have been killed in recent weeks in blasts, some of which have been claimed by the local Islamic State unit. The Emergency Hospital said it treated more than 100 patients injured in attacks in Kabul in April alone.
The Taliban say they have had control over the country since taking power in August and say they have largely eliminated Islamic State’s local unity, but international bodies and analysts say there is a risk of a resurgence of the radical group.
Many of the attacks target the Shia minority, but Sunni mosques were also hit, as was the case on Friday.
Bombs exploded aboard two vans carrying Shiite Muslims in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday, killing at least nine people. Last week, an explosion destroyed a Sunni mosque during Friday prayers in the city of Kunduz, killing 33.
