A large bomb has exploded at a Shiite mosque in the center of Afghanistan’s second-largest city, during Friday prayers.
A large explosion hit a Shiite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, news agencies reported Friday, citing officials and reporters on the ground.
The blast at the mosque in the center of the city occurred during Friday prayers, which typically draws
large crowds of worshippers.
A spokesman for the Taliban government’s interior ministry said the blast caused heavy casualties.
“So far seven dead and 13 wounded have been brought to our hospital,” A doctor at the city’s central hospital told Agence France-Presse.
Photographs posted by journalists on social media showed many people apparently dead or seriously wounded on the floor of the mosque.
Second blast in a week
Qari Saeed Khosti said authorities were collecting details of the explosion, which took place days after the so-called Islamic State (IS) group claimed a bombing at a Shiite mosque in the northern city of
Kunduz that killed scores of people.
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Nematullah Wafa, a former member of the local provincial council, said the blast occurred at the Imam Bargah mosque.
No group immediately claimed responsibility.
The Taliban took power in Afghanistan in mid-August just as US-led international forces pulled out, sparking a speedy evacuation effort.
The army and police disbanded and government officials fled, leaving a security vacuum in places.
The Taliban are enemies of IS and have been fighting with the Sunni terrorist group since it emerged in Afghanistan in early 2015.
