Suicide bombers attack a Shiite mosque in Afghanistan, killing at least 7

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People gather at the scene after a bomb blast hits a Shiite mosque in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province on Friday.

Murteza Khaliqi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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Murteza Khaliqi/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images

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Dozens of people have been killed in a mosque explosion in Afghanistan

The attack appears to bear the hallmarks of last week’s suicide bombing at a Shiite mosque in northern Kunduz province that killed at least 45 people and wounded dozens more — timed for maximum casualties during Friday prayers that typically attract the largest number of worshippers.

The earlier attack was claimed by the Islamic State – Khorasan, or ISIS-K, which views Shiite Muslims as apostates and opposes the Taliban regime. While the Taliban have pledged to restore order in Afghanistan after decades of war, since they seized full control of the country in August, the ISIS affiliate has increased attacks in the country.

In the latest attack, witnesses told TOLO News that the number of casualties was high. A hospital official in Kandahar, who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity, said that medical staff had received seven dead and 13 wounded and that the death toll was likely to rise.

A spokesman for the Taliban interior ministry, Qari Saeed Khosti, told Reuters that authorities were investigating. Taliban special forces also arrived to secure the site, the news agency said.

• mosque attack
• shiite muslims
• Afghanistan