Mosque blast in Kabul kills over 50 people during Ramadan

Mosque blast in Kabul kills over 50 people during Ramadan. 

According to the mosque’s leader, after Friday prayers at a Kabul mosque, a huge explosion killed more than 50 people. 

Also, they claim the latest in a string of strikes on civilian targets in Afghanistan during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The incident occurred in the early afternoon at the Khalifa Sahib Mosque in the capital’s west, according to Besmullah Habib, deputy spokesman for the interior ministry, who stated the official confirmed death toll was ten.

After Friday prayers, attendees at the Sunni mosque gathered for an assembly known as Zikr, a religious commemoration practiced by some Muslims but considered heretical by some hardline Sunni groups.

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According to the mosque’s leader, Sayed Fazil Agha, a suicide bomber joined them in the ceremony and detonated explosives.

He told Reuters that “black smoke ascended and spread everywhere, dead bodies were everywhere,” and his nephews were among the deceased. “I made it out alive, but I lost my loved ones.”

Mohammad Sabir, a local, said he saw injured individuals being transported into ambulances.

“I believed my eardrums were cracked since the blast was so loud,” he claimed.

So far, hospitals have received 66 dead bodies and 78 wounded persons.

The US and the UN mission in Afghanistan also condemned the incident, claiming that it was part of an upswing in violence against minorities in recent weeks. 

At least two UN staff members and their families were in the mosque at the time.

“There are no words strong enough to condemn this heinous conduct,” Mette Knudsen, the United Nations Secretary-Deputy General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan, stated.

The Emergency Hospital in Kabul’s downtown claimed it was treating 21 people, two of whom were already dead when they arrived. 

However, another hospital treating victims of the attack said it had received 49 patients and five bodies. 

According to the source, ten of the patients were in serious condition, and over 20 had been admitted to the burns unit.

Zabihullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the ruling Taliban, issued a statement condemning the blast and promising that the offenders would be apprehended and punished.

It was unclear who was to blame right away.

In recent weeks, several Afghan civilians have been killed in bombings, some of which have been claimed by the Islamic State.

In April alone, the Emergency Hospital in Kabul treated more than 100 people injured in attacks. The most recent attack occurred on the last Friday of Ramadan, when most Muslims fast, and just before the holy celebration of Eid, which falls next week.

Since taking power in August, the Taliban claim to have secured the country and largely eradicated Islamic State’s local offshoot. 

Still, international authorities and analysts think the threat of militancy rebirth persists.

The Shi’ite minority has been the target of many attacks, but Sunni mosques have also been targeted.

On Thursday, bombs exploded aboard two passenger vehicles carrying Shi’ite Muslims in Mazar-e-Sharif, killing nine people. 

Last Friday, during Friday prayers in Kunduz, a blast ripped through a Sunni mosque, killing 33 people.