11 killed in the mosque explosion in Afghanistan Badakshan: News | World news
At least 11 people were killed when an explosion occurred near a mosque in northern Afghanistan at a memorial service for the Taliban’s deputy governor, who was killed in an attack earlier this week, officials said, according to Al Jazeera.
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The blast happened during a memorial service for Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Badakhshan who was killed in a car bomb on Tuesday.
A former Taliban police officer was among those killed and more than 30 others were injured in an explosion near the Nabawi Mosque on Thursday, according to Abdul Nafi Takor, the Taliban’s appointed spokesman for the interior ministry.
Takor said there are concerns that the number of victims may rise further.
The attack in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, also killed the deputy governor’s driver and injured 10 other people.
A car bomb on Tuesday killed Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Badakhshan, and the explosion occurred during his memorial service. Similarly, the deputy governor was killed in the attack in Faizabad, the capital of Badakhshan, and ten other people were injured.
Safiullah Samim, the former head of the Afghan police in Baghlan, was reportedly killed in the explosion on Thursday, according to Moazuddin Ahmadi, an Afghan government official in charge of communication and culture, according to Al Jazeera.
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai condemned the attack and tweeted that the bombing of mosques was an act of “terror” and went “against humanitarian and Islamic standards”.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. The militant group ISIL (ISIS) claimed responsibility for Tuesday’s car attack.
The Taliban administration has been carrying out attacks against members of ISIL, which has claimed several large-scale attacks on city centers, Al Jazeera reported.
The group has targeted Taliban officials and claimed the killing of the governor of northern Balkh province in an attack in March.
Many Taliban officials attended Ahmadi’s funeral, which was held on Wednesday, along with hundreds of residents of Faizabad.
The Afghan army chief, Fasihuddin Fitrat, condemned the attacks in Badakhshan and asked people to cooperate with the Afghan security forces and report suspicious activities in their areas, Al Jazeera reported.
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In December, a car bomb killed the regional police chief of Badakhshan on his way to work.
ISIL’s local affiliate, known as the Islamic State in Khorasan Province, claimed at the time that it had carried out that attack. The group said that they had taken a car loaded with goods on the road and they planted it when the police chief was nearby.
