Blast At Afghanistan Mosque During Friday Prayers Kills 33, Including Children: Report

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that children were among the 33 dead in the blast at the Mawlavi Sikandar mosque.

Taliban fighters seized control of Afghanistan last year after (Getty Images)

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New Delhi: A blast at a mosque in Afghanistan during Friday prayers killed 33 people, including children, and injured 43, AFP reported. This is the third blast to have taken place in Afghanistan this week.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted that children were among the 33 dead in the blast at the Mawlavi Sikandar mosque in the northern province of Kunduz.

"We condemn this crime... and express our deepest sympathies to the bereaved," he said.

Images posted on social media showed holes blown through the walls of the mosque, popular with Sufis, AFP reported.

"The sight at the mosque was horrifying. All those who were worshipping inside the mosque were either injured or killed," AFP quoted Mohammad Esah, who owns a shop near the mosque, as saying.

READ | Several Dead, Over 50 Injured As Massive Blast Hits Mosque In Mazar-e-Sharif

The United Nations called the attack "horrific". Deputy special representative to Afghanistan Ramiz Alakbarov said in a tweet that "killings must stop now and perpetrators brought to justice".

Friday's bombing is the latest in a series of deadly attacks across Afghanistan.

The attack comes a day after a bomb blast rocked a Shiite mosque in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif that killed at least 12 worshippers and left 58 people injured. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack.

They also claimed a separate attack in Kunduz city on Thursday, which killed four people and wounded 18.

On Tuesday, twin blasts ripped through a boys' school in Kabul, which killed six and wounded more than 25.