Afghan Taliban say 11 killed in mosque blast in northeastern Afghanistan

By Anadolu staff

ANKARA (AA) – The interim Taliban administration in Afghanistan on Friday clarified that 11 people were killed in Thursday’s bombing at a mosque in northeastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said on his official Twitter account that 30 people were also injured in the blast in Fayzabad, the provincial capital of Badakhshan.

Earlier, some local media in Afghanistan reported 15 deaths in the blast on people gathered at the mosque to mourn the death of a Taliban official killed along with his driver in a roadside bomb blast a day earlier in the province.

Mawlawi Nisar Ahmad Ahmadi, the deputy governor of Badakhshan, and his driver were killed in a blast in Faizabad on Tuesday. The terror group Daesh/ISIS later claimed responsibility for the attack.

Meanwhile, the terror group on Friday also claimed responsibility for the mosque attack through its propaganda website.

"Such a crime is the work of the enemies of Islam," Mujahid tweeted, adding that the administration has ordered the arrest of those responsible for the attack.

According to the Taliban, Safiullah Samim, a former police chief of the Taliban administration in Baghlan province, was among those killed in the mosque attack.

Former President Hamid Karzai and former Chief Executive of the Ashraf Ghani government, Abdullah Abdullah, both strongly condemned the bombing inside the mosque, calling it an act against Islamic teaching.

"Attacking mosques and religious places is an act contrary to the rules of Islam and humane principles and has no justification," Abdullah tweeted.

Daesh/ISIS has been attacking Taliban leaders and Afghan clerics as it has claimed responsibility for several attacks in Afghanistan, including many on mosques.

*Writing by Islamuddin Sajid