Pakistan strongly condemns terrorist attack on Kandahar mosque

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has condemned in the strongest terms the heinous terrorist attack at a mosque in Kandahar today, resulting in the loss of so many precious lives and injuries to others, ARY News reported on Friday.

The Foreign Office (FO) spokesperson said in a statement, “The government and people of Pakistan convey their support, and heartfelt condolences, to the people of Afghanistan and stand in solidarity with them in this hour of grief.”

“Pakistan condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, including despicable attacks on places of worship.”

Earlier in the day, blasts tore through a mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar during Friday prayers, killing at least 62 people and injuring 68 others.

The cause of the explosions was not immediately clear, but they came a week after a suicide attack on worshippers at a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz that was claimed by the Islamic State group.

The mosque’s Facebook account made an appeal for blood donations.

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 before their prayers.

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

“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,” tweeted interior ministry spokesman Qari Sayed Khosti, of the Taliban movement that rules Afghanistan.

“Special forces of the Islamic Emirate have arrived in the area to determine the nature of the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.”