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Some 33 people killed in blast at Shia mosque in Afghanistan — Al Jazeera

According to the news report, at least 57 people had been injured

© EPA-EFE/STRINGER

CAIRO, October 15. /TASS/. As many as 33 people have been killed as a result of the terrorist attack in the Bibi Fatima mosque in Afghanistan’s Kandahar, the Al Jazeera TV channel said on Friday.

Earlier, about 20 fatalities were reported. According to the TV channel, a terrorist carried out a suicide attack in the largest Shia mosque in the province, also known as Imam Bargah, where many worshippers gathered for Friday prayers. Al Jazeera also said that at least 57 people had been injured in the blast.

The Taliban (outlawed in Russia) confirmed the information about the explosion, promising to find those responsible for the incident. "We are saddened to learn that an explosion took place in a mosque of the Shia brotherhood in the first district of Kandahar city in which a number of our compatriots were martyred and wounded. Special forces of the Islamic Emirate [the name the Taliban call themselves] have arrived in the area to determine the nature of the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice," Taliban Interior Ministry Spokesman Qari Saeed Khosty stated on his Twitter page.

In turn, Muhammad Jalal, a member of the Taliban's cultural commission, revealed that the blast had been prepared and carried out by the Islamic State Khorasan Province, an affiliate of the Islamic State (IS, outlawed in Russia).

On October 8, a similar attack took place in a Shia mosque in northern Afghanistan’s Kunduz Province. Then, at least 150 people were killed in a major blast, while about 200 citizens suffered injuries. IS militants claimed responsibility for the incident.

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