A large blast killed more than 50 people attending a mosque inside the Afghanistan capital of Kabul on Friday, the mosque’s leader said.
The blast hit the Khalifa Sahib Mosque, located on the west side of Kabul, early in the afternoon, according to a Taliban spokesman. While the spokesman has reported a death toll of 10 people, the mosque’s leader, Sayed Fazil Agha, claimed that dozens more were killed in the blast, according to Reuters.
Someone believed to be a suicide bomber detonated devices as the mosque’s worshipers gathered after Friday prayers for an event known as Zikr, a ritual prayer practiced by some Islamic sects, Agha said.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attack as of Friday, according to Sky News.
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The explosion was so powerful and loud that the neighborhood around the mosque felt the ground shake from the blast, nearby residents said.
Twenty-one patients who were wounded in the blast are being treated at Emergency Hospital in downtown Kabul, where two others were pronounced dead on arrival, the report said. Another hospital received several more patients, and 30 people have been admitted to hospitals in total, a health source said.
The explosion occurred on the last Friday of Ramadan, the holy month of fasting for Muslim communities. The holiday will end on May 1.
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Kabul has dealt with several reported explosions in recent weeks. At least six people were killed in explosions on April 19. Twin blasts killed at least nine Shiite Muslims riding aboard passenger vans in northern Afghanistan on Thursday. The Islamic State claimed responsibility for some of these attacks.
