KHOST – Twin suicide blasts struck a mosque in eastern Afghanistan Fridayas it was crowded with worshippers for weekly prayers, killing at least 20people and wounding dozens in the latest attack.
Officials have said they fear the death toll could rise after the assault,the latest targeting civilians who have borne the brunt of the violence inAfghanistan’s long conflict. “Two suicide explosions happened during Fridayprayers in the Khwaja Hasan area of Gardez,” said Abdullah Hasrat,spokesperson for Paktia province near the Pakistan border.
Provincial police chief General Raz Mohammad Mandozai also confirmed thepresence of two suicide bombers, adding that the assailants also openedfire on the crowd before detonating explosives. He said at least 20 peoplehad been killed and around 50 others injured.
Other officials said as many as 25 people had died. Gardez public healthdepartment chief Wilayat Khan Ahmadzai said that more than 70 people intotal had been killed and wounded, with many rushed to the city’s civilianhospital.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack.
It comes as urban areas across Afghanistan have been rocked by anincreasing number of attacks in recent months, with both Islamic State (IS)and Taliban insurgents targeting security forces and governmentinstallations.
The Taliban has not claimed a major attack in a city for weeks as it comesunder increased pressure to agree to peace talks with the Afghangovernment. But IS has carried out multiple attacks in the eastern city ofJalalabad and the capital Kabul in recent months, targeting everything fromgovernment ministries to a midwife training centre.
Last month an IS suicide bomber blew himself up near Kabul internationalairport, killing 23 people including AFP driver Mohammad Akhtar.
The uptick in violence comes as US and Afghan forces intensify ground andair offensives against IS, and the Taliban step up their turf war with thegroup.
Earlier this week more than 150 IS fighters surrendered in northernAfghanistan – in a move that Afghan security forces and the Taliban hailedas the end of the extremist group in the north of the country.
Afghan civilians have taken the brunt of the gruesome war that began afterthe 2001 US-led invasion uprooted the Taliban regime. Insurgent attacks andsuicide bombs were the leading causes of civilian deaths in the first halfof 2018, a recent UN report showed.
A total of 1,692 civilians were killed, the highest number for the periodsince the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan began keepingrecords in 2009. Another 3,430 people were wounded, the report added. -APP/AFP