Worshippers, imam dead in deadly Kabul mosque explosion

A bombing inside a mosque in a northern Kabul neighbourhood has killed at least 12 worshippers and wounded more than 15 others.

Kabul police spokesperson Ferdaws Faramarz said on Friday that explosives had been placed inside the mosque beforehand.

Faramarz said the mosque's imam, Mofti Naiman, was among the 12 dead. 

The explosion occurred inside the mosque as worshippers gathered for  Friday prayers on the second day of the Eid al Fitr holiday, officials said.

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Taliban denies connection

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. 

Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denied any connection to the mosque attack, condemning it and accusing Afghanistan’s intelligence agency of being behind the explosion.

Taliban militants called a three-day ceasefire for the holiday, which marks the end of the Ramadan holy fasting month. 

But shortly before the ceasefire, they attacked Nerkh district just outside Kabul, seizing it from government forces.

The blast came less than a week after an explosion at a school killed 80 people, most of them schoolgirls from the ethnic Hazara Shia Muslim minority. The Taliban denounced that attack and no one has claimed responsibility for it.

US officials believe it may have been the work of a rival militant group such as Daesh.
Violence, including attacks on civilians, have increased in Afghanistan, even as the United States has begun an operation to withdraw all its remaining troops over the next four months.

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