Kabul: A suspected suicide bomber exploded himself among Shiite worshippers at a mosque in the Sayed Abad area of northern Kunduz province in Afghanistan, with initial reports saying at least 80 people were killed and 100 others wounded.
According to reports, the bomber struck shortly after noon in front of the Seyed Abad Grand Mosque in the Bandar-e-Khanabad area in the capital of Kunduz province.
No group has claimed responsibility for the blast.
Videos on social media showed graphic images of many dismembered bodies lying strewn amid the rubble of the blast.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid, in a tweet, said: ”This afternoon, an explosion took place in a mosque of our Shiite compatriots in the Khan Abad district of Bandar, the capital of Kunduz province, as a result of which a number of our compatriots were martyred and wounded.
“The Mojahedin arrived at the scene with a special unit and started investigating.”
The Islamic State-Khorasan has been behind some earlier smaller blasts targeting the Taliban.
However, in this instance, the target was a Shiite mosque.
According to Kabul Chronicle, over 80 were killed and 100 wounded in the blast.
It is the first major big blast in Afghanistan after the US forces left Kabul on August 30. On August 26, a suicide bomber of the IS-K had exploded himself among crowds waiting outside Kabul airport, killing nearly 200 people, including 13 US troops.
UNI/RN
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