Deadly Blast Hits Afghanistan’s Herat Mosque

By Staff, Agencies

An explosion rocked the Guzargah mosque in the city of Herat in western Afghanistan, police said on Friday. A cleric and several civilians lost their lives and many more people sustained injuries in the blast.

"Mujib Rahman Ansari, with some of his guards and civilians, have been killed on their way toward the mosque," said Herat's police spokesperson Mahmood Rasoli.

Ansari had been attacked by a suicide bomber on his way to the mosque from his home, Rasoli added.

The Taliban's spokesperson Zabiullah Mujahid, in a Tweet expressed "strong condolences" over Ansari's death and said his attackers would be punished.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility but previous mosque attacks have been claimed by Daesh [the Arabic acronym for terrorist ‘ISIS/ISIL’ group], which has carried out a series of attacks against religious and ethnic minorities in Afghanistan.