The attack took place in one of the most famous places of worship in the city
Kabul, Afghanistan:
A well-known imam and a worshiper were killed Tuesday in a bomb attack on a popular mosque in the green walled area of Kabul, officials said.
The latest attack in the Afghan capital came after seven civilians were killed in the north of the country in a roadside explosion allegedly by the Taliban.
No group immediately claimed responsibility for the evening explosion in central Kabul, which occurred in one of the city’s most famous places of worship.
A strong explosion sent shock waves through the sprawling militarized zone, where alarms rang out in various embassies and international offices, sending personnel to rush into safe rooms.
“Unfortunately, tonight, explosives placed by terrorists in the Wazir Akbar Khan mosque exploded,” Interior Ministry spokesman Tareq Arian told AFP.
The mosque is located at the main entrance to the green zone and is accessible from inside and outside the tightly controlled area. Senior leaders often go there to offer ceremonial prayers.
The mosque’s imam, Ayaz Niazi, was among those killed, said Arian. He was famous in Kabul and his politically charged sermons were often so well attended that worshipers poured into the gardens outside the mosque.
Arian first said that the attack was carried out by a suicide bomber. But as the investigations progressed, it was not clear that this remained the case.
President Ashraf Ghani’s spokesman called the incident a “heinous” attack.
The attack follows a Islamic State bombing on Saturday against a minibus from a television station in central Kabul, killing a journalist and the driver.
It also comes after officials said seven civilians were killed on Monday evening by a Taliban-related roadside bomb in northern Afghanistan, even as authorities pressed for peace talks with activists.
The explosion hit a small truck in Kunduz province carrying a group of workers in the unstable Khan Abad neighborhood.
No group has claimed responsibility, but Kunduz province spokesman Esmatullah Muradi blamed the Taliban.
“The Taliban generally plant roadside bombs to target the security forces, but their bombs generally kill civilians,” he said.
Two of the six others injured in the Kunduz explosion were in critical condition, said district chief Hayatullah Amiri.
Possible peace talks
Despite the recent bloodshed, violence in much of Afghanistan has generally subsided since May 24, when the Taliban announced a three-day surprise ceasefire to mark the celebration of Eid al- Fitr.
Ghani had welcomed the Taliban’s ceasefire offer and the authorities responded by announcing the release of some 2,000 Taliban prisoners in a “goodwill gesture” to restart the peace talks.
Former Afghan chief executive Abdullah Abdullah, who has been appointed to lead the talks, said his team was ready to start negotiations “anytime”.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo held a video conference on Monday with senior officials in Kabul, including Ghani and his first deputy, Amrullah Saleh.
While Saleh stressed the importance of the continuing decline in violence and the need to maintain a ceasefire, the two sides discussed the next steps needed to bring peace to Afghanistan, Ghani’s office said in a statement.
The issue of the release of Taliban prisoners and the location of intra-Afghan peace talks were discussed in particular, the statement said.
The violence had exploded after the Taliban signed a historic agreement with the United States in February, which paves the way for the withdrawal of all foreign forces by May next year.
(With the exception of the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
