Deadly blast targets mosque in northern Afghan city of Kunduz

A blast has ripped through a mosque during Friday prayers in northern Afghanistan and killed 33 people, a Taliban spokesperson said.

"The blast occurred at a mosque in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz killing 33 civilians including children," government spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Twitter.

Mujahid tweeted news of the devastating bombing in the town of Imam Sahib, in Kunduz Province, saying it also wounded another 43 people, many of them students.

Earlier the Kunduz provincial police spokesman put the death toll at the mosque and madrassa compound in Imam Sahib at two dead and six injured.

No one immediately claimed responsibility.

READ MORE: Deaths as multiple blasts rock Afghanistan

A series of attacks 

The blast comes a day after Daesh claimed a bomb attack at a Shia mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif that killed at least 12 worshippers and left 58 people injured.

The group also claimed a separate attack in Kunduz city, which killed four people and wounded 18.

Earlier on Friday the Taliban authorities said they had arrested the Daesh "mastermind" of Thursday's bombing at the mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif.

Since Taliban fighters seized control of Afghanistan last year after ousting the US-backed government, the number of bombings has fallen but Daesh has continued with attacks - often against Shia targets.

Taliban officials insist their forces have defeated Daesh, but analysts say the group is a key security challenge.

READ MORE: Deadly blasts rock school in Kabul's Shia Hazara neighbourhood