Blasts hit Shiite mosque in Afghanistan’s Kandahar

KANDAHAR

Explosions hit a Shiite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar on Friday, leaving at least 32 dead and dozens wounded.

The cause of the blasts was not immediately identified, but it came exactly a week after a suicide bomb attack on Shiite worshippers in the northern city of Kunduz, that was claimed by the Islamic State group.

An eyewitness told AFP he heard three explosions, one at the main door of the mosque, another at a southern area, and a third where worshippers wash themselves.

Another witness said three blasts rocked the mosque in the centre of the town during Friday prayers, the busiest congregation of the week.

Interior ministry spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti tweeted: "We are saddened to learn that an explosion took place in a mosque of the Shiite 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 have arrived in the area to determine the nature of the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice."

According to an AFP journalist the mosque was full of people at the time of the explosions, and at least 15 ambulances went to the scene.

Graphic images posted to social media, which could not be immediately verified, showed bodies lying on the floor of the Fatemieh mosque.