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Afghanistan: Deadly blast at mosque near Interior Ministry

October 5, 2022

An Interior Ministry spokesman said visitors and workers were praying at the mosque when the blast went off. No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack.

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Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor at a press conference; five men behind him are wearing the new Afghan police uniform
Taliban Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said that visitors and ministry employees were praying at the mosque that was hit by the blastImage: Ali Khara/REUTERS

A blast went off on Wednesday at a mosque near Afghanistan's Interior Ministry, the Taliban said.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Takor said that "visitors and some of the employees of the ministry" were praying at the mosque in Kabul when the blast went off.

The interior ministry is in a secure area next to the city's international airport.

What do we know about the blast?

The Taliban said that 25 worshippers were injured in the attack and four were killed.

The Italian NGO Emergency, which operates a hospital in Kabul, tweeted that its surgical center had received 18 injured and two bodies following the blast. The organization said this was the 23rd mass casualty the hospital has handled so far this year.

The NGO said that the eruption at the mosque was caused by a suicide attack, and that some of the injured had reported seeing a man detonate a device before the blast.

While Emergency reported that the attack occurred in "a mosque within the Ministry of the Interior," Takor said that the mosque was located "at a distance from the ministry of interior."

It was not immediately clear who was behind the attack. Similar attacks have in the past been claimed by the Islamic State (IS), which declared war on the Taliban in 2015 and has stepped up attacks since the group took over Kabul last year following the withdrawal of US-led international troops.

Last week, a suicide bomb went off at an education center in the Afghan capital, killing dozens. The Taliban said there had been 25 casualties from the attack, but according to other reports the death toll could be as high as 52.

The attack on Friday targeted girls from the Hazara ethnic group of central Afghanistan, which predominantly follows Shiite Islam. The Sunni Taliban, which is largely made up of members of Afghanistan's dominant Pashtun ethnic group, has historically expressed animosity towards the Hazara, but has promised to protect minorities since taking power in the country.

sdi/sms (AP, AFP, Reuters, dpa)