Suicide attack on Shiite mosque in Afghanistan kills 32

KABUL – Suicide bombers attacked a Shiite mosque packed with worshippers attending Friday prayers successful confederate Afghanistan, sidesplitting astatine slightest 32 radical and wounding 68, according to a Taliban official.

There was nary contiguous assertion of work for the carnage astatine the Fatimiya mosque successful Kandahar province. It came a week aft a bombing claimed by the section Islamic State affiliate killed 46 radical astatine a Shiite mosque successful bluish Afghanistan.

The sectarian bloodletting has raised fears that IS -- an force of some the Taliban and the West -- is expanding its foothold successful Afghanistan.

Murtaza, who and similar galore Afghans goes by 1 name, said helium was wrong the mosque during the onslaught and reported 4 explosions: 2 extracurricular and 2 inside. He said Friday prayers astatine the mosque typically gully hundreds of people.

Another witness, besides named Murtaza, was successful complaint of information astatine the mosque and said helium saw 2 bombers. He said 1 detonated explosives extracurricular the gate, and the different was already among the worshippers wrong the mosque.

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He said the mosque's information unit changeable different suspected attacker outside.

Video footage showed bodies scattered crossed bloodstained carpets, with survivors walking astir successful a daze oregon crying retired successful anguish.

Taliban spokesperson Bilal Karimi reported the fig of dormant and wounded. But a section infirmary authoritative who was not authorized to talk to the media and spoke connected information of anonymity gave a higher toll, saying astatine slightest 37 radical were killed and much than 70 wounded.

The Islamic State group, which similar Afghanistan's ruling Taliban is made up of Sunni Muslims, views Shiite Muslims arsenic apostates deserving of death.

IS has claimed a fig of deadly bombings crossed the state since the Taliban seized powerfulness successful August amid the withdrawal of U.S. forces. The radical has besides targeted Taliban fighters successful smaller attacks.

If the onslaught was carried retired by IS, it would beryllium the archetypal large battle by the extremist radical successful confederate Afghanistan since the U.S. departure enabled the Taliban to consolidate power of the country. Recent attacks successful the north, the eastbound and the Afghan superior person formed uncertainty connected the Taliban’s quality to antagonistic the menace posed by IS.

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The Taliban person pledged to reconstruct bid and information aft decades of warfare and person besides fixed the U.S. assurances that they volition not let the state to beryllium arsenic a basal for launching extremist attacks connected different countries.

The Taliban person pledged, too, to support Afghanistan’s Shiite minority, which was persecuted during the past play of Taliban rule, successful the 1990s.

Both the Taliban and IS adhere to a rigid mentation of Islamic law, but IS is acold much radical. It has better-known branches successful Iraq and Syria.

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Akhgar reported from Istanbul.

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