KABUL: At least 100 people were martyred in a terrorist blast at a mosque in Afghanistan’s Kunduz city on Friday, according to hospital sources.
A doctor at Kunduz Central Hospital, who did not want to be named, said: “So far we have received 35 dead bodies and over 50 wounded people in our hospital.”
Another hospital run by Doctors Without Borders (MSF) received the bodies of at least 15 people, a source said.
Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid had earlier said an unknown number of people had been killed and injured when “an explosion took place in a mosque of our Shiite compatriots” in Kunduz.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, but the Islamic State group, bitter rivals of the Taliban, has claimed similar recent atrocities.
Residents of Kunduz, the capital of a province of the same name, told AFP the blast hit a Shiite mosque during Friday prayers, the most important of the week for Muslims.
Zalmai Alokzai, a local businessman who rushed to Kunduz Provincial Hospital to check whether doctors needed blood donations, described horrific scenes.
“I saw more than 40 dead bodies,” he told AFP. “Ambulances were going back to the incident scene to carry the dead.”
An international aid worker at the MSF hospital in the city told AFP there were fears the death count could rise.
“Hundreds of people are gathered at the main gate of the hospital and crying for their relatives but armed Taliban guys are trying to prevent gatherings in case another explosion is planned,” he said.
Frightened crowds
Graphic images shared on social media, which could not immediately be verified, showed several bloodied bodies lying on the floor.
Another video showed men shepherding people, including women and children, away from the scene. Frightened crowds thronged the streets.
Kunduz’s location makes it a key transit point for economic and trade exchanges with Tajikistan.
It was the scene of fierce battles as the Taliban fought their way back into power this year.
Often targeted by Sunni extremists, Shiite Muslims have suffered some of Afghanistan’s most violent assaults, with rallies bombed, hospitals targeted and commuters ambushed.
Shi’ites make up roughly 20 percent of the Afghan population. Many of them are Hazara, an ethnic group that has been heavily persecuted in Afghanistan for decades.
Pakistan condemns blast:
The Government of Pakistan Friday condemned the bomb blast that killed at least 55 people in Afghanistan’s Kunduz city during Friday prayers.
“We are deeply grieved at the dastardly terrorist attack on a mosque today in Kunduz province of Afghanistan which has reportedly resulted in the loss of innumerable precious lives and injuries to many others,” a statement issued by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said.
“The Government and people of Pakistan stand in solidarity with their Afghan brethren. We convey our deepest condolences to the families of those who lost their dear ones and wish early recovery to the injured,” the statement read.
“We reiterate our unequivocal condemnation of terrorism in all its forms and manifestations.”
