Explosion At Mosque In Kabul, Several Casualties Feared: Report

According to a Taliban intelligence official, as many as 35 people may have been wounded or killed, and the toll could rise further.

Representative Image

Source : AFP

New Delhi: A huge explosion struck a mosque in Kabul during evening prayers on Wednesday, police said, with many feared dead or injured, news agency Reuters reported.  

According to a Taliban intelligence official, as many as 35 people may have been wounded or killed, and the toll could rise further.

Kabul security department spokesman Khalid Zadran confirmed that a blast took place in PD 17 of Kabul. He further said that security forces have arrived in the area, as reported by TOLO news.

According to the witnesses, the powerful explosion was heard in a northern Kabul neighbourhood, shattering windows in the nearby buildings. Ambulances rushed to the spot.

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"A blast happened inside a mosque.... the blast has casualties, but the numbers are not clear yet," Reuters quoted Kabul police spokesman Khalid Zadran as saying.

The Taliban intelligence official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said that the blast took place in a mosque among worshippers in Khair Khana area in Kabul.

According to the official, the Imam of the mosque was among those killed and the toll could still rise, the report said.

Intelligence teams were at blast site and investigations were underway.

It is to be noted that other officials in the Taliban government did not reply to multiple requests to confirm the number of casualties.

Emergency NGO, a hospital in Kabul, tweeted to say that 27 people had been "received at our hospital so far following an explosion in the PD17 area". "Five children among them, including a seven-year-old," the tweet added.

Earlier last week, a prominent pro-Taliban cleric was killed in a suicide bomb blast in Kabul. The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for the attack, as per reports.