Suicide bomber kills six in Afghanistan
Attack at a mosque in the eastern province of Kunar has killed at least six people, including a local police chief.
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| Fifty-nine people were killed in an earlier attack on the Abu-Fazl shrine near Kabul on the holy day of Ashoura [Reuters] |
A suicide bomber has blown himself up at a mosque in northeastern Afghanistan, killing at least five other people, including a local police chief, authorities say.
The bombing occurred after Friday prayers in the yard of a mosque in the Ghaziabad district of Kunar province, General Ewaz Mohammad Naziri, the provincial police chief, said.
“The Ghaziabad police chief, a member of the National Directorate of Security [the Afghan intelligence agency], two policemen and two civilians were killed. Nine have been wounded,” Nazari said.
Taliban claim responsibility
The attack is the latest in a string of assassinations of senior government and security officials in the country.
| Friday’s attack came just days after co-ordinated attacks on Shia Muslims in Kabul and Mazar-e-Sharif |
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in a text message. The message, sent by spokesman Zabiullah Mujahid, said the attack had killed the police chief and six of his bodyguards.
The attack occurred as worshippers were leaving the mosque after the Friday prayers, Fazullulah Wahidi, the governor of Kunar, said.
Kunar has been a flashpoint in the Taliban’s 10-year fight against US-led NATO forces as well as the Afghan government.
The attack came three days after co-ordinated attacks on Shia Muslims in Kabul and the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif killed at least 59 people in an unprecedented assault on the holy day of Ashoura.
The claim of responsibility from the Taliban is unusual, as they have in the past denied any role in attacks on religious sites.
The Afghan interior ministry condemned the bombing.