More than 100 people are believed to have been killed or wounded after a blast tore through a mosque in northern Afghanistan, the UN and Doctors Without Borders say.
“Initial information indicates more than 100 people killed and injured in a suicide blast inside the mosque,” the United Nations’ mission to Afghanistan tweeted.
Doctors Without Borders reported that at least 20 people were killed and 90 others injured at the Shi’ite Mosque in the city of Kunduz.
Holger Vieth, a spokesman for the aid group, said many of the wounded were being treated at one of its hospitals.
Some of the victims had also been taken to another hospital in the area, Vieth said, emphasising that the exact toll remained unclear.
Local journalists reported even higher casualty numbers, saying more than 70 people were killed and dozens more injured.
A senior spokesman for the Taliban, Zabihullah Mujahid, confirmed that an explosion had taken place at the mosque on Friday afternoon and that special forces had been deployed to the scene.
Videos of the victims and the debris were shared on social media.
One clip showed men and women running down a street screaming.
While no group has claimed responsibility so far, the Islamic State group frequently targets the Shi’ite community in Afghanistan.
In mid-August, the Taliban took power in Afghanistan after US-led international forces pulled out.
The army and police disbanded and government officials fled, leaving a security vacuum.
The Taliban are enemies of IS and have been fighting with the group since it emerged in Afghanistan in early 2015.
The Fort News