At least 6 died and several were injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up outside a Shiite mosque in Kabul today, police said, as Muslims prepare to celebrate one of the holiest dates in the Islamic calendar.
“A suicide bomber who was grazing sheep has detonated himself outside” the mosque, General Salim Almas, criminal investigative director of Kabul city, told AFP.
Almas did not have any information about casualties.
The explosion happened as worshippers were leaving a Shiite mosque in the north of the city after Friday prayers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Taliban and Islamic State jihadists, who belong to the rival Sunni branch of Islam, have repeatedly targeted the minority Shiite community in recent years.
All victims were civilians, said Najibullah Danish, interior ministry spokesman, reported Al Jazeera.
Tolo News reported that President Ashraf Ghani condemned the blast, calling it against humanity & religion.
There had been fears they would strike again as Shiites prepare to commemorate Ashura which falls this weekend and is the most important Shiite observance.
It falls on the 10th day of Muharram, which is the mourning period for the killing of Imam Hussein, the grandson of the Prophet Mohammed.
The Quint
