Jalalabad: At least 28 worshippers were killed and dozens wounded by a blast inside an Afghan mosque during Friday prayers, officials said, a day after the United Nations said violence in the country had reached “unacceptable” levels.
The explosion, which witnesses said collapsed the mosque’s roof, took place in eastern Nangarhar province and wounded at least 55 people, provincial governor spokesman Attaullah Khogyani told AFP. He said the dead were “all worshippers” in the blast in Haska Mina district.
A doctor at a hospital in Haska Mina gave a slightly higher toll, telling AFP that “around” 32 bodies had been brought in, along with 50 wounded.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility.
Both the Taliban and the Islamic State group are active in Nangarhar province.
The blast came after the UN released a new report on Thursday saying an “unprecedented” number of civilians were killed or wounded in Afghanistan from July to September.
The report, which also charts violence throughout 2019 so far, underscores how
“Afghans have been exposed to extreme levels of violence for many years” despite promises by all sides to “prevent and mitigate harm to civilians”.
It also noted the absurdity of the ever-increasing price paid by civilians given the widespread belief that the war in Afghanistan cannot be won by either side.
“Civilian casualties are totally unacceptable,” said the UN’s special representative in Afghanistan, Tadamichi Yamamoto, adding they demonstrate the importance of talks leading to a ceasefire and a permanent political settlement.
The figures — 1,174 deaths and 3,139 injured from July 1 until September 30 — represent a 42 per cent increase compared to the same time period last year.
The UN laid most of the blame for the spike at the feet of “anti-government elements” such as the Taliban, who have been carrying out a bloody insurgency in Afghanistan for more than 18 years. (AFP)
