Blast at Shi'ite mosque in Afghan city of Kandahar causes heavy casualties
Last edited Fri Oct 15, 2021, 08:30 AM - Edit history (1)
Source: Reuters
KABUL, Oct 15 (Reuters) - A large explosion tore through a Shi'ite mosque in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar during Friday prayers, killing at least 33 people and wounding 73, officials said, the second massive attack in a week targeting worshippers from the minority sect.
A local reporter in Kandahar told Reuters that eyewitnesses had described three suicide attackers, one of whom blew himself up at the entrance to the mosque with the two others detonating their devices inside the building.
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A health official gave figures of 33 dead and 73 wounded and said the final total could be higher. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack. Interior ministry spokesman Qari Saeed Khosti of the ruling Taliban movement said authorities were collecting details.
The blast took place just days after an attack claimed by Islamic State militants, which killed scores of Shi'ite worshippers at a mosque in the northern city of Kunduz. The full death toll from that attack has been estimated as high as 80.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/blast-hits-mosque-afghan-city-kandahar-heavy-casualties-officials-2021-10-15/
And also BBC report: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-58925863
Pictures from inside the Bibi Fatima mosque show shattered windows and bodies lying on the ground and other worshippers trying to help.
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Witnesses described three bombers to local media, who detonated devices at the main door and inside the mosque.
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No group has said it carried out the attack, but BBC Afghanistan correspondent Secunder Kermani says that IS-K, a local branch of the Islamic State Group, is expected to say it was behind the blasts.
Lonestarblue
(9,880 posts)The Sunni-Shia war has the same cause as most other religious wars (like Protestant-Catholic), and that is the desire to either kill the other side or force them to convert to your brand. Around 90% of Afghanistan practices Sunni Islam, the same as ISIS, so perhaps the Taliban is willing to allow ISIS-K to wipe out the 10% who practice Shia. These people truly are stuck in the dark ages.
jimfields33
(15,473 posts)maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)sunnis terrorists kill shiites, over and over.
Javaman
(62,442 posts)you think I'm joking?
the bottom line is: money.
maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)The Sunni Taliban can't stop Sunni terror any more than the US or Afghan Army could. You'd think they'd be better at it, since they've been practicing it themselves for decades.
leftyladyfrommo
(18,816 posts)maxsolomon
(32,992 posts)This is the Islamic State, who are Sunnis that are more "extreme" than the Talibs.