More than 90 people are injured and 30 people are dead after an explosion in a Shia mosque in the Afghan city of Kandahar during Friday prayers. The explosion is suspected to be a suicide bombing, but the cause is still unclear. There were three explosions, one at the maind door, one where worshippers wash, and another. Friday prayers are the busiest congregation time of the week and the mosque was full of people during the attack. At least 15 ambulances arrived on the scene afterwards.
Taliban special forces have secured the site and asked for blood donations. IS-K is expected to say it was behind the attack. Kandahar is Afghanistan’s second largest city, and the birthplace of the Taliban, so an attack by another extremist group in this city would be significant. IS-K claimed responsibility for a suicide attack on another Shia mosque during Friday prayers last Friday that killed at least 50 people. IS-K is a Sunni Muslim group and Sunni extremists have targeted Shia muslims, as they consider them to be heretics.
Read more: Afghanistan: Explosion strikes Afghan mosque during prayers