Muslim world fails to find peace during Eid

A Pakistani policeman stands guard as Afghan refugees perform Eid al-Adha prayers on the outskirts of Peshawar. AFP photo

A suicide bomber killed at least 41 people, including five children, when he struck at a mosque in northern Afghanistan after Eid al-Adha prayers on Oct. 26.

Dozens more were wounded as the bomb ripped through the crowd of worshippers in Maymana city in Faryab province and there were fears the death toll could rise. Suicide bombings are a favourite weapon of Taliban militants trying to topple the government of President Hamid Karzai.

The attacker was wearing a police uniform when he blew himself up at the entrance to the city’s packed Eid Gah mosque, deputy provincial governor Abdul Satar Barez told Agence France-Presse. “We had just finished Eid al-Adha prayers and we were congratulating and hugging each other,” Barez said.

Karzai strongly condemned the attack, calling the perpetrators “the enemies of Islam and humanity.”

“Those who take the happiness of Muslims during Eid days cannot be called human and Muslim,” he said.

Northern Afghanistan is relatively peaceful, with the Taliban, who were ousted from power in a U.S.-led invasion in 2001, concentrating their operations in the south and east of the country.

But they have recently stepped up their activities in the north, despite the presence of more than 100,000 NATO troops in the country.