No less than 14 people were killed by bomb blasts in Afghan cities on Thursday, including 10 at a mosque in Mazar-e-Sharif, the second attack against a Shia target this week.
The number of bombings in Afghanistan has diminished since the Taliban took over the government in August. However, the militant group Islamic State has claimed to have carried out several attacks since then.
The group claimed responsibility for Thursday’s attack in the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e-Sharif. Grisly images of victims being carried to the hospital from Seh Dokan mosque were posted on social media.
Speaking with an international news agency, Zabihullah Noorani, head of Balkh province’s information and culture department said that “there are at least 25 casualties”.
A police official reported that 10 people had been killed, and 15 wounded. Separately, at least four people were killed and 18 wounded by a blast in Kunduz city.
Provincial police spokesman Obaidullah Abedi said that a bicycle bomb targeted a Taliban vehicle carrying mechanics working for a military unit. Afghanistan’s Shia Hazara community, which makes up between 10 and 20 percent of the country’s 38 million people, has been the target of attacks for a long time. On Tuesday, two blasts outside a school in a Shia neighbourhood of Kabul killed at least six people and wounded 25 others.
