Blast tears through Kabul mosque, killing at least 5

A blast tore through a mosque in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Wednesday evening, killing at least five people, authorities and hospitals said, the same day deadly explosions hit passenger vehicles in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif.

A spokesman for the capital’s commander said at least two people were injured in the blast on a mosque in Kabul. Emergency Hospital said in a tweet that it had received five bodies from the blast and more than a dozen wounded patients.

A Taliban official who spoke on condition of anonymity as he was not authorised to speak with the media said explosives had been placed inside the mosque’s pulpit and at least 11 people were dead.

Three blasts in northern Balkh province killed at least nine and injured 15, Mohammad Asif Waziri, a spokesman for Balkh province’s commander told Reuters, adding the attacks targeted members of the Shi’ia community, who are a religious minority in Afghanistan.

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It was not immediately clear who was behind the attacks.

Growing violence in recent months has caused security challenges for the Taliban who took over the country in August as foreign forces withdrew. The Islamic State has claimed several attacks, often targeting the Shi’ia minority.