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Bomb Blast Hits Entrance of Kabul Mosque

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VOA News
October 3, 2021

A bomb blast outside Kabul’s main mosque Sunday afternoon killed and injured several Afghan civilians, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said.

It was the first such assault in the capital since late August, when an Islamic State-Khorasan Province suicide bomber killed around 200 people, including 13 U.S. soldiers, near the Kabul airport.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Sunday’s assault on the Eid Gah mosque in the center of the city and it was apparently targeted at a gathering offering special prayers for Mujahid’s mother, who recently passed away.

Qatar-based Taliban spokesman Suhail Shaheen said Mujahid was “safe” along with other colleagues because the blast happened away from the place where they were located.

Hamidullah, a member of the Taliban, said he was a mere three meters away from the suicide bomber, in the mosque at the time of the blast.

“I was thrown back from the force of the blast,” he told journalists outside Kabul’s Emergency Hospital where some of the victims were treated.

The Afghan Islamic State affiliate, also known as ISIS-K, has claimed a series of attacks in the country’s eastern provinces of Nangarhar and Kunar in the last week, killing dozens of civilians and Taliban fighters.

Ayaz Gul contributed to this report and some information comes from AP.

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