Thirty-three dead and dozens injured in Afghanistan mosque blast

Kabul: A Taliban official says a bombing at a mosque and religious school in northern Afghanistan on Friday killed at least 33 people, including students of a religious school. Zabihullah Mujahid tweeted news of the devastating bombing in the town of Imam Saheb, in Kunduz Province, saying it also wounded another 43 people, many of them students.Also Read - Let Afghan Girls Return to Secondary School: India And UK to Taliban After PM Modi-Johnson Meet

No one immediately claimed responsibility, but Afghanistan’s Islamic State affiliate on Friday claimed a series of bombings that happened a day earlier, the worst of which was an attack on a Shiite mosque in northern Mazar-e-Sharif that killed at least 12 Shiite Muslim worshippers and wounded scores more. Also Read - Over 5 Killed, More Than 50 Injured as Massive Blast Hits Mosque In Afghanistan's Mazar-e-Sharif City

Earlier the Kunduz provincial police spokesman put the death toll at the mosque and madrassa compound in Imam Saheb at two dead and six injured. Mujahid later tweeted the higher casualty numbers tweeting “we condemn this crime . . . and express our deepest condolences to the victims.” Also Read - All-Girls University in Pakistan Bans Smartphones Inside Campus| Here's Why

Friday’s bombing is the latest in a series of deadly attacks across Afghanistan. Since sweeping to power last August, the Taliban have been battling the upstart Islamic State affiliate known as Islamic State in Khorasan Province or IS-K which is proving to be an intractable security challenge for Afghanistan’s religiously driven government.

Last November the Taliban’s intelligence unit carried out sweeping attacks on suspected IS-K hideouts in eastern Nangarhar province. In a statement Friday, the IS-K said the explosive device that devastated Mazar-e-Sharif’s Sai Doken mosque was hidden in a bag left inside among scores of worshippers. As they knelt in prayer, it exploded.

“When the mosque was filled with prayers, the explosives were detonated remotely,” the IS statement said, claiming that 100 people were injured.