Suspected suicide attack targets Shia mosque in Kabul

By Shadi Khan Saif

KABUL, Afghanistan (AA) - Two suspected suicide bombers attacked a mosque belonging to the Shia community in the capital Kabul on Thursday, leaving at least one person dead and two others injured, according to an official.

The mosque was located in the western part of Kabul’s Dasht-e-Barchi area, which is home to several ethnic Shia Hazara people.

According to Interior Ministry deputy spokesman Najib Danish, security forces had stopped a suspected suicide attacker from entering the al-Zahra mosque but a second suspected bomber somehow managed to detonate his explosives.

The blast left a suicide bomber dead and two security personnel wounded, Danish told Anadolu Agency.

Afghan media network Tolo TV quoted eyewitnesses as saying the death toll was as high as six in the attack.

Last year, up to 80 people got killed when two pro-Daesh suicide bombers hit a protest rally organized by the Hazara community in Kabul. This was followed by another suicide attack on the Baqar Ulom Mosque run by the Shia community, killing at least 27 more.