KABUL: A suicide bomber killed more than 30 people and wounded dozens on Monday in an explosion at a crowded Shiite mosque in the Afghan capital Kabul, officials said, the third major attack on minority Shiites in the city since July.
The attacker entered the Baqir-ul-Olum mosque shortly after midday.
Fraidoon Obaidi, chief of the Kabul police Criminal Investigation Department, said at least 27 people were killed and 35 wounded.
The United Nations said at least 32 had been killed and more than 50 wounded, including many children. It described the attack as “an atrocity.”
“I saw people screaming and covered in blood,” one survivor told Afghanistan’s Ariana Television, adding that around 40 dead and 80 wounded had been taken from the building before rescue services arrived at the scene.
Another witness said he had helped carry 30-35 bodies from the mosque.
Last month, 18 people were killed when a gunman in police uniform opened fire on worshippers gathered at a shrine in Kabul.
In addition, at least 14 people were killed in an attack on a Shiite mosque in northern Balkh province, for which no group has so far claimed responsibility.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Monday’s attack, but the Taliban, seeking to reimpose strict Islamic law after they were toppled from power in 2001, denied any involvement.
“We have never attacked mosques as it’s not our agenda,” said the movement’s main spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid.
Officials said the attack was a deliberate attempt to stoke sectarian tensions.
Any resurgence of sectarian or ethnic violence could threaten the fragile stability of the government headed by President Ashraf Ghani, who described the mosque blast as an attempt “to sow seeds of discord.”
Government Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah said Afghanistan should not fall victim to “enemy plots that divide us by titles.”
“This attack targeted innocent civilians — including children — in a holy place. It is a war crime & an act against Islam & humanity,” he said in a message on his Twitter account.
