Afghanistan: At least 10 killed, 20 wounded as powerful blast rocks mosque in Kabul

The mosque in Kabul was packed with hundreds of worshippers who had gathered for prayers on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

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New Delhi: At least 10 people were killed and 20 injured after a powerful blast hit a mosque in Afghanistan’s capital Kabul on Friday (April 29). 

According to AP report, the Khalifa Aga Gul Jan Mosque was packed with hundreds of worshippers who had gathered for prayers on the last Friday of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. 

“The blast occurred two hours after Friday prayers as worshippers were performing rituals," interior ministry deputy spokesman Bismillah Habib was quoted as saying by AFP. 

Habib said the blast ripped through the Sunni mosque in the west of Kabul at around 2 p.m. (1000 GMT), Reuters reported. 

Mohammad Nafi Takor, the Taliban-appointed interior ministry spokesman, has not provided more details yet, while Taliban security men cordoned off the area. The source of the explosion is yet to be known and no one has claimed responsibility yet. 

The local residents told AP on condition of anonymity that the explosion was so loud that the neighborhood of the mosque "shook from the blast".

Emergency Hospital in downtown Kabul confirmed to Reuters that it was treating 20 patients injured in the powerful explosion. A nurse at another hospital, on the condition of anonymity, said they had received several wounded patients in critical condition. 

Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has been witnessing attacks on mosques targeting the country's minority Shiite Muslims. These past attacks were claimed by the Islamic State group's regional affiliate-- Islamic State in Khorasan Province or IS-K.

(With agency inputs)