KABUL, Afghanistan: Two suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan during Friday prayers, killing at least 29 people and wounding another 81, officials said.
Abdullah Asrat, spokesman for the governor of Paktia province, said the heavily armed attackers, disguised in the all-encompassing burkas worn by conservative Afghan women, opened fire on private security guards outside the mosque in the city of Gardez. Then they slipped inside and set off their explosives among around 100 worshippers.
Five of the seriously wounded were small children, he said.
No one immediately claimed responsibility for the attack, but the Daesh affiliate in Afghanistan has targeted Shiite worshippers in the past. The group has also warned Afghanistan’s minority Shiites that their houses of worship would be targeted.
Syed Sufi Gardezi, the most senior Shiite cleric in Gardez, put the death toll at 30. He described a scene of panic and distress outside the Imam-e-Zaman mosque as news of the explosion spread and relatives gathered.
Gardezi said the wounded were screaming for help and body parts of the dead were scattered throughout the single story mosque. The dead were all men and boys, he said.
Dr. Mohammad Wali Roshan, a physician at a local hospital, said some of the relatives, armed with sticks and guns, were furious at the lack of security and began beating people, even medical personnel who arrived to help the wounded.
“They were shouting that there was no security and screaming for their loved ones,” he told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.
Gardezi blamed the Daesh affiliate. He said the Taliban have a strong presence in the area but have never attacked Shiites in the past and have never threatened them.
Both the Taliban and the Daesh group are made up of radical group who want to overthrow the Western-backed government and impose a harsh form of law. But they are fiercely divided over leadership, ideology and tactics, and have clashed on a number of occasions. Daesh views Shiites as apostates deserving of death.
In the last two years, Daesh has attacked 24 Shiite cultural centers, mosques and schools, said Mohammad Jawad Ghawary, a member of the Shiite cleric council.
“In Afghanistan they are the biggest threat for Shiites,” he said. He called on the Afghan government and the international community to do more to protect Shiites.
Suicide bombing at mosque in Afghanistan kills at least 29
Suicide bombing at mosque in Afghanistan kills at least 29
- A suicide attack struck a Shiite mosque in eastern Afghanistan Friday targeting worshippers during weekly prayers.
- The attack comes as urban areas across Afghanistan have been rocked by an increasing number of attacks in recent months.
Pro-Palestine protest planned in Sydney against Israeli President Herzog’s visit
- Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach
SYDNEY: Pro-Palestine demonstrators plan to rally in Sydney on Monday to protest the visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, as authorities declared his visit a major event and deployed thousands of police to manage the crowds.
Police have urged the protesters to gather at a central Sydney park for public safety reasons, but protest organizers said they plan to rally at the city’s historic Town Hall instead.
Police have been authorized to use rarely invoked powers during the visit, including the ability to separate and move crowds, restrict their entry to certain areas, direct people to leave and search vehicles.
“We’re hoping we won’t have to use any powers, because we’ve been liaising very closely with the protest organizers,” New South Wales Police Assistant Commissioner Peter McKenna told Nine News on Monday.
“Overall, it is all of the community that we want to keep safe ... we’ll be there in significant numbers just to make sure that the community is safe.”
About 3,000 police personnel will be deployed across Sydney, Australia’s largest city.
Herzog is visiting Australia this week following an invitation from Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach.
He is expected to meet survivors and the families of 15 people killed in the December 14 shooting during a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
In a statement, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry Co-Chief Executive Alex Ryvchin said Herzog’s visit “will lift the spirits of a pained community.”
Herzog’s visit has drawn opposition from pro-Palestine groups, with protests planned in major cities across Australia, and the Palestine Action Group has launched a legal challenge in a Sydney court against restrictions placed on the expected protests.
“A national day of protest will be held today, calling for the arrest and investigation of Isaac Herzog, who has been found by the UN Commission of Inquiry to have incited genocide in Gaza,” the Palestine Action Group said in a statement.
The Jewish Council of Australia, a vocal critic of the Israeli government, released an open letter on Monday signed by over 1,000 Jewish Australian academics and community leaders, urging Albanese to rescind Herzog’s invitation.
