At Least Four Killed, Scores Wounded In A Deadly Blast In Kabul Mosque

As the world battles the effect of COVID-19 there still seem to be pockets of terrorist attacks in some part of the world as a blast in a mosque during Friday prayers in the western part of capital Kabul in Afghanistan has killed at least four people and wounded many more.

Spokesperson for the Afghanistan Ministryof interior Tariq Arian in a statement said “Explosives placed inside the Sher Shah Suri Mosque exploded during Friday prayers adding that the mosque’s prayer leader Azizullah Moflehwas among those affected.

Arian added that police have cordoned off the area and helped move the wounded to ambulances and nearby hospitals.

No group immediately claimed responsibility for the attack but a mosque attack earlier this month was claimed by an ISIL (or ISIS) group affiliate, headquartered in eastern Afghanistan’s Nangarhar province”, he said.

“The other political aspect for these kinds of attacks is that there are peace spoilers trying to convey a message that peace with the Taliban will not eradicate violence in the country because you have ISIL.”

Violence has spiked in recent weeks in Afghanistan with most of the attacks claimed by the ISIL affiliate.

The United States blamed the armed group for a horrific attack last month on a maternity hospital in the capital that killed 24 people, including two infants and several new mothers.

The ISIL affiliate also took responsibility for an attack on a bus carrying journalists in Kabul on May 30, killing two.

It also claimed credit for an attack on the funeral of a strongman loyal to the government last month that killed 35 people.

Meanwhile, the US is attempting to broker peace talks between the Afghan government and the Taliban to end 18 years of war.

Washington’s peace envoy Zalmay Khalilzad was in the region earlier this week trying to resuscitate a US peace deal with the Taliban.

The peace deal signed in February calls for the withdrawal of the US and NATO troops from Afghanistan in return for a commitment by the Taliban to not launch attacks on the US or its allies.