33 Dead, 43 Injured After Blast in Afghanistan Mosque During Friday Prayers

The blast occurred at Mawlavi Sikandar mosque in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz in northern Afghanistan.

A blast hit a mosque in northern Afghanistan

(Photo Courtesy: Twitter/Saeedullah Safi)

At least 33, including children, were killed after a blast in a mosque in northern Afghanistan during Friday prayers, news agency AFP reported, quoting Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid said on Friday, 22 April.

The blast occurred at Mawlavi Sikandar mosque in Imam Sahib district of Kunduz.

Mujahid said on Twitter that the bombing also left 43 people wounded, many of them students.

Meanwhile, another blast took place on Friday at a religious school in the same area, killing two students, and leaving another six students wounded, reported AP.

Blast at a Shi'ite Mosque

Nobody has claimed responsibility for Friday's bombings yet. They came a day after at least 11 people were killed and nearly 50 were wounded in a blast at a Shi'ite mosque in Afghanistan's Mazar-e-Sharif city, as per a health official quoted by AP.

The explosion at the Sai Doken mosque in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Thursday occurred as worshippers knelt in prayer as Muslims mark the holy month of Ramzan, added the report.

The Islamic State group in Afghanistan had claimed responsibility for Thursday's blast.

Taliban authorities on Friday said they had arrested the IS "mastermind" of Thursday's bombing, reported AFP.

The ISIS also claimed another attack in Kunduz city that had happened on Thursday, which left four people dead and 18 injured.

(With inputs from AFP and AP.)