CAIRO, October 15. /TASS/. The number of victims of a terror attack in the Bibi Fatima mosque in Afghanistan’s Kandahar has increased to 62, at least 88 people have been wounded, Afghanistan’s Bakhtar news agency reported on Friday citing sources in the region.
Earlier, 35 fatalities were reported. According to the agency, three terrorists carried out a suicide attack around 13:30 local time (12:00 Moscow time) triggering an explosion in the largest Shia mosque in the province, also known as Imam Bargah where many worshippers gathered for Friday prayers.
The Taliban (banned in Russia) confirmed the information about the explosion, promising to find those responsible for the incident. 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, banned in Russia).
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has already condemned the attack. "UN condemns latest atrocity targeting a religious institution & worshippers. Those responsible need to be held to account," according to UNAMA’s statement published on Twitter.
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 sustained injuries. IS militants claimed responsibility for the incident.